Spain postpones Sahrawi nationality bill debate until September

Contrary to initial expectations, the bill proposed by the left-wing Sumar coalition to grant Spanish citizenship to Sahrawis will not be discussed in a plenary session of the lower house of Parliament on July 23. The consideration of this legislation has been postponed until the next parliamentary session in September.

Its approval, however, is not expected to encounter significant obstacles, following an agreement between Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE and Sumar on the bill’s terms. This deal was reached after Sumar and other Basque and Catalan parties backing the initiative agreed to exclude administrative documents issued by the Polisario from the naturalization process.

In contrast, the People's Party (PP) and Vox (far right) opposed the proposal during a review by the Justice Committee of the Congress of Deputies on June 30. Lawmakers from Junts, the right-wing Catalan party, abstained.

This delay provides the Polisario with some respite. Media outlets close to the Front had recently urged Spain to «recognize the Sahrawi republic» instead of granting nationality to Sahrawis.