Alberto Núñez Feijóo wants a nationality law that tightens access to Spanish nationality and sets a minimum residence period for voting. The proposal is not law; nationality remains linked to electoral rights under the Constitution.
A question about the Constitutional Court’s role in a dispute involving the Supreme Court led Alberto Núñez Feijóo to explain his position on nationality and voting. In an interview on COPE on 20 October 2026, he was asked whether the Tribunal Constitucional might admit an amparo appeal filed by the Defensor del Pueblo against a decision of the Tribunal Supremo. The dispute concerns the voting rights of Spaniards who obtained nationality under the Democratic Memory Law, often called the “grandchildren law.”
Feijóo said the Tribunal Supremo and the Junta Electoral Central were solid institutions. He argued that the Constitutional Court would not act against them or against the principles and hierarchy of legal rules, and said he was confident the court would not overturn the Supreme Court’s measures. Servimedia reported that those measures affect about 165,000 voters naturalized through the “grandchildren law”; the Defensor del Pueblo’s appeal asks the Constitutional Court to consider the matter. He was then asked whether he would separate nationality from the right to vote. His answer was an unequivocal yes: having a passport and having the right to vote were two different things.
He wants to promote a separate nationality law, beyond the existing provisions of the Civil Code, that strengthens the requirements for obtaining a Spanish passport and sets a minimum period of residence for voting. Feijóo also referred to other possible models, including a separate constituency electing two or three deputies or senators to represent citizens abroad. The People’s Party said it would discuss options with parliamentary groups. He did not specify the length of the residence period or the precise scope of the proposed rule. Feijóo separately claimed that 2.4 million “new voters” had entered the CERA register of Spaniards living abroad and had never lived in Spain; that figure refers to his claim about the register and is distinct from the approximately 165,000 voters affected by the court measures.
The proposal has not changed the current rules. The Spanish government’s election guidance says that adult Spanish citizens registered on the electoral roll may vote whether they live in Spain or abroad. The guidance does not set a general additional residence period for citizens who acquired nationality after birth. The Constitution links nationality to the right to be an elector and to be eligible for election. Feijóo has also made the nationality-law pledge in earlier coverage of his political commitments.
