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Spanish lawmakers are set to vote during the lower house's July 23 plenary session on a bill that would grant Spanish nationality to Sahrawis born before 1976, when the Sahara was under Spanish administration.
The initiative, led by the left-wing Sumar coalition and first introduced in November 2023, has finally secured the backing of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's PSOE, bringing a long-running legislative deadlock to an end. The bill was added to the parliamentary agenda after receiving the government's approval.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares confirmed the government's support while responding to an oral question from a Catalan MP. «The Spanish government is fully in favor of granting nationality to Sahrawis who lived under Spanish administration. There is no problem, no blockage, and as foreign minister, I support it», he said.
Polisario documents rejected
The breakthrough on a proposal that has been pending for years, predating Pedro Sánchez's arrival in office in June 2018, is only the first step in what could be a lengthy legislative process.
Under amendments introduced by the PSOE, applicants would be required to provide either a certificate confirming their inclusion in the 1974 Spanish census or documentation proving they appear on United Nations lists compiled as part of the planned Sahara referendum. However, documents issued by the Polisario Front would not be accepted as supporting evidence, a provision that has drawn criticism from Sumar.
The reference to UN lists could itself prove contentious. In a report submitted to the UN Security Council on June 20, 2000, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged that the identification process for Sahrawis eligible to vote in the referendum, along with all activities related to the settlement plan, had been at a standstill since late 1995.
Annan attributed the deadlock in part to the «POLISARIO Front», which opposed the identification of members of the «Tribus del Norte» (Northern Tribes) and the «Costeras del Sur» (Atlantic Coast Tribes), despite the fact that both groups had been included in Spain's 1974 census.
As a result, the former UN chief suspended the work of the voter identification commission. Between 1993 and December 1999, only 2,130 voters had been identified out of 51,220 potential applicants in Western Sahara.
Polisario remains silent
While Spain's left-wing parties have welcomed the government's decision, the Polisario has remained silent. The Front's leadership, based in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, has made no public comment on the bill, nor have its representatives in Madrid.
Meanwhile, a petition launched by Sahrawi MP Tesh Sidi of the Sumar coalition, calling for Spanish nationality to be granted to Sahrawis, continues to gather support. As of June 26, it had attracted nearly 28,000 signatures.
