Spain’s Constitutional Court rejects Gabilondo’s appeal as premature

The Constitutional Court found an appeal by the Defensor del Pueblo premature after the Supreme Court suspended the electoral registration effects of naturalisation for 163020 people. The case concerns descendants who claimed Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law and a government instruction that widened its reach. The Supreme Court identified the affected group as people covered by Additional Provision 8.1.1 of the law, commonly known as the «Law of Grandchildren». It provides a route to nationality for descendants of Spaniards affected by the Civil War and Franco dictatorship, including those driven into exile or subjected to repression.

José Antonio Zarzalejos argues that the appeal is part of a PSOE strategy to question the legitimacy of election results if these newly naturalised citizens cannot vote. That is his political assessment. The court’s stated reason for rejecting the application was procedural.

The Supreme Court’s suspension orders were provisional measures in an administrative case that had not concluded. On 23 October 2026, the Supreme Court’s Third Chamber for Contentious-Administrative Matters issued two orders in precautionary-measures proceedings concerning the electoral rights of people naturalised under the «Law of Grandchildren». The orders followed a request from the Central Electoral Commission for instructions on complying with earlier court orders. The State Attorney’s Office challenged one order through a reconsideration appeal on 21 September. The Supreme Court rejected that appeal on 12 October. Neither the State Attorney’s Office nor the Public Prosecutor sought constitutional protection against the suspension orders.

Gabilondo filed his application on 16 October, seeking urgent interim measures. Under the Constitutional Court’s principle of subsidiarity, an amparo appeal can generally be considered only after the ordinary courts have issued final decisions. Ten of the court’s 12 judges rejected the application as premature. Juan Carlos Campo, a former justice minister under Sánchez, and Ramón Sáez issued dissenting opinions.

The dispute stems from an instruction published in the Official State Gazette on 26 October 2022. Sofía Puente, then director general for Legal Security and Public Faith, drafted and signed it. The instruction presumed that Spaniards who left the country between 18 July 1936 and 31 December 1955 were exiles. Their descendants could then seek nationality without documentary proof that their ancestors had left for the reasons specified by the law.

In its 23 October orders, the Supreme Court required the ministers responsible for the Presidency and Justice, including relations with the Cortes, as well as Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, to provide the nominal list of 163,020 people affected by the application of Additional Provision 8.1.1. The State Attorney was to submit the list by 15:00 on 28 October to the Supreme Court, the Central Electoral Commission and the Electoral Census Office. The court warned that missing the deadline could lead to coercive fines or referral of information for possible criminal responsibility under Article 112 of the Administrative Jurisdiction Act.

A Madrid investigating court has accepted a complaint by Hazte Oír alleging prevarication by Puente, despite the prosecution’s opposition. The complaint’s admission does not establish that an offence occurred.

Gabilondo’s appointment as Defensor del Pueblo followed an agreement between the PSOE and PP in 2021. Congress elected him on 11 November with 240 votes; the Senate ratified the appointment on 16 November with 216 votes. Zarzalejos contrasts that consensus role with an appeal he considers legally bound to fail. He links the case to his wider criticism of Pedro Sánchez’s attacks on Congress and electoral institutions.