Spanish Bill for Sahrawi Nationality Stalls Following Early Election Call

• A bill intended to grant Spanish nationality to Sahrawis born in Spanish-held territory before September 29, 1977, has effectively collapsed due to the snap election called by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
• The initiative had passed the Congress but was stalled in the Senate, where the People's Party (PP) had proposed amendments to weaken its core provisions, including eliminating direct nationality grants and imposing a two-year residency requirement.

Legislative Obstacles and Proposed Alternatives

• Sumar is urging the government to bypass the stalled legislative process by using a royal decree-law, though this faces constitutional challenges as Article 86 restricts such decrees to cases of urgent necessity and excludes matters regarding fundamental rights.
• Another discussed alternative is the 'letter of nature' (carta de naturaleza), a discretionary mechanism to grant citizenship under exceptional circumstances.
• The Polisario Front and solidarity groups emphasize that while the bill was a positive symbolic step, it is merely a administrative patch that does not address Spain's historical obligations.
• Activists stress that the core issue remains the right to self-determination and broader historical reparations, such as recognizing Sahrawis under the Democratic Memory Law and settling unpaid labor pensions.
• If no viable legal path is found before the new legislature convenes, the entire process must start from scratch under the next government.