The Justice Committee in Spain’s Congress advanced a long-debated proposal to create a route to Spanish nationality for Sahrawis born in Western Sahara under Spanish administration and, under specified conditions, their first-degree descendants. On 23 July 2026, the committee approved its report with 19 votes in favor, three against and 15 abstentions. The Partido Popular’s (PP) abstention helped the report pass, while Vox voted against it.
Registered by the Grupo Parlamentario Plurinacional SUMAR as bill 122/000072, the proposal was first admitted for consideration by Congress on 25 February 2025, with 195 votes in favor, 116 against and 33 abstentions. Sumar deputy Tesh Sidi was a prominent advocate. The committee stage followed a prolonged period of procedural uncertainty. The proposal framed the measure as redress for the historical loss of nationality options, rather than as an ordinary immigration measure.
Debate also focused on the bill’s language and potential diplomatic implications. PSOE amendments to replace references to the “Sahrawi people” with terms such as “Sahrawi population” or “Sahrawis” were rejected. Artemi Rallo, PSOE’s spokesman on the Justice Committee, described the measure as a form of “reparation and justice for the Sahrawi cause.” Technical amendments backed by PSOE, ERC, Sumar, Bildu and PNV included a proposal to extend the period before the law would take effect from two to four months after publication in Spain’s official gazette.
The proposal’s historical structure covered Spanish administration of the territory from 10 January 1958 to 11 August 1977, while its basic eligibility cutoff was 29 September 1977. It proposed granting nationality by carta de naturaleza, or by royal decree, treating applicants’ historical connection to the territory as an exceptional circumstance under Article 21.1 of the Spanish Civil Code. Applicants would not need to reside legally in Spain. The text also set out special ways to document birth and identity, addressing the challenges of records from the colonial-administration period.
The proposed route covered people born in Western Sahara before the cutoff and included a pathway for first-degree descendants. It also proposed reducing to two years the legal-residence period for Sahrawis seeking nationality by residence. These provisions, along with proposed application periods and evidentiary rules, remained terms of the bill; committee approval did not itself create a right to apply. Estimates put the potential population covered at around 80,000, with descendants extending the possible reach. These were projections, not completed grants of nationality.
Congress approved the proposal on 10 September 2026 by 168 votes in favor, 31 against and 145 abstentions, then sent it to the Senate for the next stage of the legislative process. The vote did not enact the bill. The Cortes were dissolved on 6 October before the Senate completed its consideration, ending the bill’s progress without creating a new nationality pathway. The proposed two-year residence period and special nationality and documentation provisions so did not become enforceable rights under this initiative.
Western Sahara was administered by Spain until its withdrawal in 1975. The proposal’s text treated the end of Spanish administration and the expiration of the period for opting for Spanish nationality as grounds for addressing what its proponents regard as a historical injustice. After the bill’s progress ended, Tesh Sidi and Más Madrid representatives called on the Government to revive the measure through a decree-law. Those calls did not create an entitlement; establishing any future route would require a new legislative or governmental act.
