Lorraine Williamson
Spain’s Supreme Court has upheld a provisional suspension that could prevent 163,020 Spanish citizens living abroad from voting in the general election on 29 November. The decision affects certain people who obtained nationality through Spain’s Democratic Memory Law, commonly known as the ley de nietos, or law of grandchildren.
The ruling, announced on Monday 12 October, comes as Spain prepares its electoral register for next month’s vote. The government has criticised the decision and is considering whether it can challenge the suspension before the Constitutional Court.
The Supreme Court’s Administrative Chamber rejected an appeal by the State Legal Service seeking to overturn a precautionary measure introduced in September. Five of the six judges supported maintaining the suspension, with one magistrate issuing a dissenting opinion.
The decision concerns the Censo Electoral de Residentes Ausentes (CERA), Spain’s electoral register for citizens living abroad. According to figures presented by the State Legal Service, 163,020 people are affected by the disputed registrations.
Why has the Supreme Court suspended their votes?
Spain’s Democratic Memory Law, introduced in 2022, created a route to Spanish nationality for descendants of people who left the country during the Civil War and Franco dictatorship. It allowed many families, particularly those living in Latin America, to establish or recover their legal connection with Spain.
The dispute concerns an administrative instruction accompanying the law, which established how applicants could demonstrate that their relatives had gone into exile. Vox and the organisation Iustitia Europa challenged the electoral registrations arising from this procedure, arguing that the eligibility criteria required greater scrutiny.
The Supreme Court initially imposed a precautionary suspension in September and has now rejected the government’s attempt to lift it. The judges argued that protecting the accuracy and integrity of the electoral register must be taken into account alongside individual voting rights.
Not everyone who obtained nationality is affected
The decision does not apply automatically to every person who became Spanish through the Democratic Memory Law. The Supreme Court has specified an exception for those who can provide the required certification showing that they are children or grandchildren of Spanish nationals who lost or renounced their nationality as a consequence of exile.
The affected group includes people whose inclusion in the electoral register depended on the disputed administrative provisions. Importantly, the ruling does not revoke anyone’s Spanish nationality, but restricts the electoral effect of certain registrations for the forthcoming election.
This distinction matters because acquiring Spanish nationality and being included in the overseas electoral register are separate legal processes. The dispute concerns whether those registrations can be relied upon for the 29 November vote.
Government considers Constitutional Court challenge
The Spanish government has expressed its opposition to the decision, arguing that thousands of people who legally acquired Spanish citizenship could now be prevented from exercising their voting rights. Both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Legal Service had asked the Supreme Court to lift the suspension.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Monday that the government would examine whether the ruling could be challenged before the Constitutional Court. That would depend on the legal status of the precautionary measure and whether further avenues of appeal remain available.
The opposition People’s Party welcomed the decision, arguing that electoral registers must be accurate and free from uncertainty. The PSOE, meanwhile, criticised the restrictions, accusing its political opponents of seeking to deny voting rights to descendants of Spanish exiles.
What happens before the 29 November election?
The Supreme Court has allowed affected individuals five days to submit representations, but the limited time before the election creates considerable uncertainty. The electoral register is now entering the final stages of preparation, leaving little opportunity for large numbers of disputed cases to be examined individually.
According to RTVE, more than half a million people had acquired Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law by June 2026. However, not all of them were registered to vote abroad, and the current dispute concerns a smaller group whose electoral registrations are affected by the court’s decision.
For Spanish citizens living overseas, the immediate question is whether the suspension will remain in force on election day. Unless the legal position changes or an affected individual can establish that the exception applies, the ruling could prevent thousands from voting in November.