Spain’s Congress of Deputies approved a law on Wednesday granting Spanish nationality to people born in Western Sahara before 1977 and to their descendants.
The vote passed with the backing of progressive and pro-sovereignty forces within the governing coalition, while conservative sectors abstained and the far-right Vox party voted against it.
Solidarity organizations and representatives of the Polisario Front celebrated from the chamber’s gallery as the rights-restoring legal framework was approved, marking a moment many Sahrawi advocates have awaited for decades.
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During the parliamentary debate, several political groups criticized the Spanish government’s diplomatic shift toward supporting Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara. Lawmakers from the coalition and its legislative allies urged the government to return to a position aligned with international law and the principle of self-determination -a recurring point of friction between Madrid’s foreign policy stance and its domestic legislative agenda on the issue.
The law was originally driven by the Sumar coalition, with the stated goal of restoring legal identity to those who once inhabited the former Spanish colony, now under Moroccan occupation. Spokespeople for the Sahrawi cause emphasized that granting citizenship represents an act of justice after decades of institutional precariousness and uncertainty, arguing that the measure addresses a historical debt rather than a mere administrative gesture.
Proposición de Ley sobre concesión de nacionalidad española a las y los saharauis nacidos bajo la administración española.
Dictamen: https://t.co/mJDez0Ed8r
Enmiendas al articulado: https://t.co/rfSlxbVVyY
Mayoría simple
— Congreso (@Congreso_Es) September 10, 2026
Text reads: “Proposal for a law on granting of Spanish nationality to the Sahrawis born under the Spanish administration. Simple majority vote.
Path to the Senate
Despite voting in favor of the proposal, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE, in Spanish) faced criticism for having delayed the bill’s processing for months before bringing it to a vote. Representatives from various parliamentary blocs agreed that the sovereignty of peoples should not be used as a bargaining chip in bilateral relations with Rabat, a point raised repeatedly during the debate as lawmakers pressed the government on its broader approach to Western Sahara.
The legislative text will now continue its process in the Senate, where it will undergo review and possible amendments before final enactment.
Social organizations estimate the measure will benefit more than eighty thousand people currently living in refugee camps and across the Sahrawi diaspora, many of whom have spent decades without formal legal recognition tying them to the territory of their birth or ancestry.
Con los saharauis celebrando que se aprueba la ley que les permitirá acceder a la nacionalidad española.
Hoy España empieza a asumir una deuda histórica que llevaba demasiado tiempo pendiente con el pueblo saharaui
pic.twitter.com/lnKthmKOZ8
— Mónica García (@Monica_Garcia_G) September 10, 2026
Text reads: “With the Sahrawis celebrating the passing of the law that will allow them to gain Spanish nationality. Today, Spain begins to assume a historic debt that had been outstanding for too long with the Sahrawi people.”
The bill‘s advancement through the lower house marks a significant step in a debate that has run alongside broader tensions in Spain’s relationship with Morocco, particularly as Madrid has faced pressure over its evolving position on Western Sahara’s status.
With Senate review still pending, the law’s final scope and implementation timeline remain subject to further legislative scrutiny, though supporters view Wednesday’s vote as a decisive move toward formalizing rights that Sahrawis and their allies have argued were owed since Spain’s withdrawal from the territory in 1975.
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