Briefing
The Spanish Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores has increased staffing at selected consulates and tightened internal priorities for processing nationality applications, according to the government and several news agencies. The move follows an urgent order from the Tribunal Supremo, which gave the ministries concerned a tight deadline to submit the names of 163,020 people whose registration in the Censo de Electores Residentes Ausentes (CERA) is linked to the so-called Ley de Nietos . The Tribunal Supremo is also requesting consular certificates confirming that these people meet the substantive criteria of the Ley de Memoria Democrática as descendants of exiles.
The Foreign Ministry says that existing digital registers such as DICIREG are being used for some cases, but many older files are held on paper at consulates and must be reviewed individually. For the Oficina del Censo Electoral such consular confirmations are essential to establish voter status in the overseas register with legal certainty.
According to official statements, work schedules have been adjusted, temporary reinforcements approved and instructions issued to missions to prioritise specific batches of files. However, sources at consulates describe heavy workloads and warn that fully reviewing all affected files within the Tribunal Supremo’s deadline remains a challenge. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and other government officials had previously said that the task would be difficult but must be treated as a priority.
The judicial order does not change the legal position: the substantive requirements for acquiring nationality under the Ley de Memoria Democrática remain unchanged; the issue now is the administrative review of which entries should remain on the electoral register or be suspended. Madrid says it is working closely with the Oficina del Censo Electoral to ensure the lists are accurate. The ministry has so far published no specific, reliable figures on how cases are distributed among individual consulates.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).