It has been almost four years – October 2022 – since Congress approved what has been dubbed the "nets law." It is not a law as such, but rather a provision included in the democratic memory law that recognizes Spanish nationality for descendants of exiles from the Civil War and Francoism. Given the volume of requests – especially from Latin America – and the limited resources of consulates abroad, where applications must be processed, hundreds of thousands are still pending resolution. However, it is in the media spotlight these days because the PP and Vox have used it as an argument to accuse the Spanish government of trying to alter the electoral roll for the upcoming Spanish elections. What exactly are we talking about?

The high abstention rate in the referendum held in Italy between yesterday and today, Monday, has prevented the approval of an opposition proposal that sought to Reducing the legal residence period in the country to obtain Italian nationality from ten to five years. The referendum also included votes on several labor measures, which also failed to pass. For the referendum result to be binding, at least 50% of voters needed to participate. By the time the polls closed at 3 p.m. on Monday, only 30% of the electorate had voted, according to preliminary turnout data.

Anna is seven years old and has been living in San Sebastián with her mother for four years, but in the eyes of the system it is as if she had just been born now. Although her mother, of Cameroonian origin, has her papers in order to reside in the State, she had not been able to inscribe her daughter in the registry, she had no health card or passport, she was not registered as a resident and, although she went to school, she could not change schools or attend extracurricular activities. The reason is that Anna was denied a nationality because she was born during her mother's migratory journey between Cameroon, Morocco and Spain. Now a court has ordered the Spanish state to give Anna Spanish nationality, against the Prosecutor's Office's and the State attorney's position.