The Government responds to Feijóo's "manufacturing voters" and defends the 'Grandchildren's Law' as democratic justice

The Government has come out this week to stop the offensive of the Popular Party against the so-called 'Grandchildren Law', after Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Pedro Sánchez of practicing “electoral engineering” and of trying to “manufacture voters” by granting nationality to descendants of Spaniards abroad.

Moncloa's response has been harsh. The Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, described the words of the PP leader as a “major irresponsibility” and defended the integrity of the Spanish electoral system. “I want to send a message of certainty to the public, to all our electoral processes, one of the best processes in the world,” she affirmed after the Council of Ministers.

Saiz placed the debate in the realm of democratic memory and not in that of electoral suspicion. The minister recalled that the Democratic Memory Law recognizes access to nationality for descendants of Spaniards who had to leave the country or lost that link due to exile and the consequences of the dictatorship. “We are talking about reparation and justice,” she defended.

The PP mixes nationality, regularization, and vote

Feijóo's thesis began with the 'Grandchildren Law' and ended up mixed with the extraordinary regularization of migrants. The PP leader has accused the Government of altering the census and this Friday he raised the tone by speaking of “social engineering” with “objectives” that, according to him, are not “innocent.”

Moncloa rejects this mix. The extraordinary regularization, closed on June 30 with 1,174,978 applications, grants residence and work permits to those who meet the requirements, but not the right to vote in general elections. The Executive maintains that the PP unites both debates to sow fear and disinformation in the midst of an offensive against Sánchez.

The key data of the Grandchildren Law also reduces the alarm launched by Génova. Until the deadline, about 2.45 million descendants of Spaniards had applied for nationality. However, by March, around 545,000 files had been approved and only 306,500 people were already registered in the Consular Civil Registry, the step that culminates the process.

The consular backlog further complicates the theory of an immediate electoral upset. In the case of Buenos Aires, the largest source of applications, more than 645,000 requests have been registered, but only about 30,000 would have been resolved, according to data published this week. Most of the files will not arrive in time to massively alter the census before the 2027 general elections.

From Vox's "electoral fraud" to the PP's shift

The Government also accuses Feijóo of adopting the language of the far-right Vox. The far-right has been talking about "electoral fraud" for weeks, has asked to suspend the instruction that develops the Grandchildren Law, and has even proposed changes to overseas voting. In parallel, Isabel Díaz Ayuso has asked if the Executive intends to "nationalize socialists" and has called for observers for the upcoming elections.

Feijóo has tried to qualify the term. He assures that he is not talking about electoral fraud, but about "electoral engineering". But the political line is the same: to cast suspicion on a legal process approved in 2022 and to question in advance the impact it may have on the census.

The paradox is that the PP defended for years expanding access to nationality for descendants of Spaniards abroad. Feijóo himself called in Argentina for a law that would not "ideologize" the process and would allow recognizing nationality for grandchildren of emigrants, not just political exiles. Now, with the debate set by the far-right, Génova has turned that same issue into a weapon against the Government.

Moncloa asks the PP for responsibility

The Executive believes that the PP has crossed a delicate line by sowing doubts about the electoral system. Saiz asked for "rigor" and "responsibility" from the main opposition party and accused Feijóo of moving closer and closer to the far-right. "The Popular Party increasingly resembles Vox," said the spokesperson.

The Government is also preparing more data to try to prevent confusion between nationality, residence, and voting. Meanwhile, the PP maintains its parliamentary offensive, asks for explanations from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and demands more information about the files and reinforcements in consulates.

The battle remains open in a pre-election climate. Moncloa wants to present the Grandchildren's Law as a measure of democratic reparation. Feijóo has decided to turn it into a suspicion about the census. In between are thousands of descendants of Spaniards who were waiting for an administrative response and have ended up fully involved in the PP's new war against Sánchez.