The Spanish government explodes against the Supreme Court over the amnesty law: "It is of extraordinary gravity"

MadridThe Supreme Court's decision to veto the vote for some 163,000 people who obtained nationality through the Democratic Memory Law has been interpreted as a declaration of war by the Spanish government. "It is of extraordinary gravity," exploded the Spanish government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, in the press conference following the council of ministers. "These are people who fled a country because of a dictatorship," she remarked, "in a democracy the right to vote is guaranteed and not restricted."

In this sense, she reaffirmed that the State Attorney's Office is studying what to do about this, although government sources point out that those who should file an appeal are those directly affected by the decision to the Constitutional Court. Even so, Moncloa sources avoid confronting the Supreme Court and emphasize the reaction of the PP and Vox, who are celebrating that a portion of the citizens nationalized through the Democratic Memory Law has been excluded. "It is Trumpism," these government sources point out.

"There is no democratic cleanliness if there is no cleanliness of the census," declared this Tuesday the leader of the PP, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, in an interview on Esradio. "We do not oppose granting the passport and the right to vote, but it cannot be opened indiscriminately to any citizen who has an ancestor in Spain," he added. Furthermore, he has mixed in the insinuation of fraud that has already been fueled by Vox and some PP leaders like Isabel Díaz Ayuso. "I will work until the last moment, including the day of reflection, with auditors and representatives at the polling stations, so that there are no traps or manipulations," he asserted.

From the PP they question, just like the Supreme Court, the administrative instruction that develops the grandchildren's law to grant nationality to descendants of exiles, since it assumes that all those who left Spain between 1936 and 1955 are such. For the high court, only those who have proven that they were effectively relatives of people who left for political reasons can vote.

From the Spanish government they warn of the difficulty of this accreditation, since government sources recall that when you go into exile "you leave with what you are wearing" and perhaps you do not keep supporting documentation that proves it. Therefore, in the administrative instruction that developed the democratic memory law it was said the following: "The condition of exile will be presumed with respect to all Spaniards who left Spain between July 18, 1936 and December 31, 1955". Subsequently, until 1978 it would indeed be necessary to "accredit the condition of exile".

The complexity of the application

Beyond criticizing the measure, the Moncloa also admits that they must comply with it. The Supreme Court has urged the suspension of the registration in the Electoral Roll of Absent Residents (CERA) for the 163,000 people who have accessed nationality, according to the administration, through the law for grandchildren. However, this task is of "great complexity" and the Spanish government acknowledges that they do not know how it will end up being applied in the consulates spread around the world.

As ARA already explained, the consular services have been reporting a "collapse" for some time. In recent years, two phenomena have worsened the situation: on one hand, the number of Spaniards abroad has tripled, from one million in the 2000s to 3.2 million today; and, on the other hand, the increase in applications to access nationality following the democratic memory law for children and grandchildren of Spaniards who went into exile. A rule that was interpreted extensively and that allowed for applications from October 2022 to October 2025.