Elections and the Law of Democratic Memory in Spain: What Could Happen?

This Sunday, July 23, general elections are taking place in Spain, and thousands of Cubans are watching closely what is happening because of the possible “targeting” of the Democratic Memory Law and its presumptions of access to Spanish nationality.

As announced, around 250,000 Cubans may apply for Spanish citizenship under the LMD, with their nominations opening in November 2022 at the Consulate General in Havana. Major candidates for the presidency have mentioned this term in their election manifestos.

The program of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party), for example, promises that during the next legislature “they will fully develop the law of democratic memory”.

“Under the Democratic Memory Act, we will continue to extend the recognition of Spanish nationality to descendants abroad,” the more than 200-page text said.

It also ensures that consular offices are provided with more material and human resources.

The current president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, indicates in the plan that he promotes “the approval of a national law regulating the citizenship rights of Spanish men and women abroad.”

In this sense, I support proposal of the Council of Spanish Residents Abroad – CRE to eliminate “discrimination between native and non-native Spaniards”.

Elections in Spain: Law of Democratic Memory

For his part, Spain’s presidential candidate Alberto Núñez Feijo, leader of the right-wing Popular Party (PP), promised that “the community of descendants of Spaniards will maintain the right to opt for Spanish nationality.”

Let’s remember that the leader of the PP has already promised to cancel the Democratic Memory Law, and he talks about the “Reform Law on Access to Nationality for Grandchildren” without giving further details in his plan.

There are immigration experts Recommended “Submit documents as soon as possible”. If the law is to be repealed, “files submitted up to the date of its repeal will not be archived or at risk of inadmissibility because the law will not take effect, but no new applications will be submitted from that moment.”