Pedro Sánchez on 11 October 2026 in Ponferrada the Tribunal Supremo called for the provisional suspension of voting rights for people naturalised under the Ley de Nietos to be ended. The President of the Government and Socialist candidate justified his appeal by pointing to the forthcoming parliamentary election on 29 November 2026: in a democracy, voting rights are not restricted but guaranteed, he said. He described it as an assault on voting rights pursued by the right-wing opposition.
The background is a ruling by the Tribunal Supremo on 8 September 2026, which suspended registration in the Censo Electoral de Residentes Ausentes for people who obtained Spanish nationality under the relevant provision of the Ley de Nietos in the Ley de Memoria Democrática. Exceptions apply where the ancestors’ exile is documented by consular authorities. The Abogacía del Estado and the Public Prosecutor’s Office then asked for the measure to be suspended at least for the forthcoming election; their submissions were filed with the court in the second week of October.
Sánchez linked the legal dispute to a fierce attack on the opposition. He accused PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Voxleader Santiago Abascal of campaigning against the measure for party-political reasons. He also questioned whether it was constitutional to provisionally deprive those affected of their voting rights. According to the government, around 400,000 newly naturalised citizens could be affected by the court’s ban. Sánchez also claimed that many of them had already voted in several elections since 2023.
Regardless of the political dispute, the decision now rests with the Tribunal Supremo. If it upholds the suspension, additional legal uncertainty and practical difficulties for voters registered abroad could arise shortly before 29 November 2026. If it lifts the measure, the affected people’s eligibility to vote in this election would be clarified at short notice. The court will have to assess the constitutionality of the relevant provision of the Ley de Nietos in separate proceedings. Statements by political figures must be distinguished from judicial findings.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).