The Tribunal Supremo on 12 October 2026 upheld the interim suspension of voting rights for people who obtained Ley de nietos Spanish nationality under an administrative provision. The entries affected are in the Censo de Residentes Ausentes (CERA) for the elections scheduled for 29 November 2026; according to the court, the relevant electoral register closes on 12 October.
The Sección Cuarta of the Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo rejected the application by the Abogacía del Estado to lift the measure imposed in September. The decision was taken by a majority; one of the six judges issued a dissenting opinion. Earlier, Iustitia Europa and Vox had challenged decisions by the Junta Electoral Central and requested that the entries of newly naturalised citizens in the overseas register be suspended.
The measure is expressly provisional. It does not affect the validity of citizenship, but only electoral registrations and their impact on the CERA. According to the court, the decision is subject to the outcome of the main proceedings.
In their reasoning, the majority judges cited the exceptional scale and pace of the new registrations, which could undermine transparency and confidence in the electoral process if they remained in place without in-depth scrutiny. The public prosecutor and the Abogacía del Estado, by contrast, argued that maintaining the emergency suspension was disproportionate given the “impossible” task of substantively reviewing almost 170,000 individual cases. According to administrative data cited in the proceedings, around 163,020 people were affected as of 1 August 2026.
In practice, the current decision means that people newly registered, or applicants who became Spanish citizens through the Ley de nietos, cannot take part in overseas elections for the time being. It therefore changes the potential size of the electorate for 29 November 2026 and sharpens the dispute between procedural certainty and fundamental rights.
Political reactions came swiftly. Government representatives stressed the fundamental right of Spanish citizens abroad to participate in politics and called for the main case to be resolved quickly. Representatives of the complainants, on the other hand, pointed to the need for reliable registers before a wider electorate is admitted. These are political assessments; they do not affect the court order.
Regardless of the outcome of the main proceedings, one point remains clear: the suspension concerns the electoral register and the procedures for registration – not the status of those affected as Spanish citizens.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).