Applications will continue to be processed, but applicants will not be added to the electoral register while the underlying appeal is being resolved, unless the consulate expressly certifies their eligibility.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Madrid, September 8, 2026 / Spain’s Supreme Court has suspended the addition to the Electoral Census of Absent Residents (CERA) of those registered as a result of the Grandchildren Law, until consulates certify that the newly naturalized citizens meet the requirement of being descendants of children or grandchildren of Spanish exiles.
The Administrative Litigation Chamber partially granted the precautionary measure requested by the Iustitia Europa and Vox political parties in appeals filed against a decision by the Central Electoral Board (JEC) on July 16. Among other matters, the JEC had stated that it could not order the rejection of postal voting from abroad because doing so exceeded its powers.
The Grandchildren Law, through a provision included in the Democratic Memory Law enacted on October 19, 2022, allows children and grandchildren of Spaniards by birth to apply for Spanish nationality, provided they meet the requirements of having been born outside Spain and that their father, mother, grandfather, or grandmother was originally Spanish and suffered exile for political, ideological, religious, or sexual-orientation reasons.
The Government approved an instruction stating that the status of exile would be “presumed” for all Spaniards who left the country between 1936 and 1955
However, a week later the Government approved an instruction stating that the status of exile would be “presumed” for all Spaniards who left the country between 1936 and 1955.
Now, the high court has suspended the electoral effects of registration in the CERA for subsequent electoral processes until its ruling is issued, except in cases where applicants can demonstrate that they are descendants of people persecuted by the Franco regime in accordance with the law, according to the ruling announced by the court on Tuesday, pending formal notification of the order. The decision includes a dissenting opinion.
“The suspension shall not apply to persons for whom the officials responsible for the consular registers issue a certificate confirming that they were born outside Spain to a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother who was originally Spanish and who suffered exile for political, ideological, religious, or sexual-identity orientation reasons (…) without having applied the presumption established in the instruction.”
In other words, consulates must certify that the naturalizations are being carried out in accordance with the requirements of the law and not the instruction in order for applicants to be registered in the CERA. To this end, the court has ordered the JEC to require this “immediately” from the consulates.
It also ordered the Electoral Census Office to separate the electoral-registration applications resulting from the direct application of the exile provisions established by the law from those approved under the interpretation contained in the instruction.
Around 2.4 million descendants of people who were forced into exile following the Civil War (1936–1939) or because of Francoist persecution have applied for Spanish nationality through this avenue
The court also asked the JEC to press the Electoral Census Office to send it the complete report it requested on July 16 concerning the application of the so-called Grandchildren Law and postal voting by absent residents, as well as to prepare an instruction establishing precise criteria for determining the municipality in which voters should be registered.
Around 2.4 million descendants of people forced into exile following the Civil War (1936–1939) or because of Francoist persecution have applied for Spanish nationality through this route. Of these, 544,722 applications have been approved and 306,000 people are already registered as Spanish citizens, according to the latest official figures.
In Cuba, according to sources at Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited by 14ymedio, more than 600,000 Cubans had applied for or begun the process of obtaining Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law at the Spanish Consulate in Havana. The figure includes both those who had formally submitted their applications and those who had requested an appointment before the deadline closed on October 22, 2025.
Government spokesperson Elma Saiz made clear that the Government does not agree with the decision adopted by the Supreme Court on Tuesday and referred to the Central Electoral Board’s previous position. The JEC includes eight judges from the Supreme Court itself.
“We do not agree with this decision, which runs contrary to the position of the Government and also that of the Central Electoral Board,” the minister responded to a question at the press conference following the Council of Ministers meeting, shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision became known.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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