The historic Sahrawi law approved by Congress is left in the air due to the early election on 29N

The call for general elections for next November 29 has left behind one of the initiatives that Congress had recently approved: the law that sought to facilitate access to Spanish nationality for Sahrawis born in Western Sahara during the period in which the territory was under Spanish administration. The dissolution of the Cortes causes legislative initiatives that have not completed their processing to lapse, so the text will have to be promoted again in the next legislature if it is to be recovered. 

The proposal sought to legally recognize the historical ties of this group with Spain. The text approved by Congress contemplated the granting of nationality by naturalization to Sahrawis born under Spanish administration and also established mechanisms for their descendants to access it under certain conditions. The initiative could affect tens of thousands of people. 

Approved in Congress, stopped in the Senate

The bill began its parliamentary processing in 2025 and remained blocked for months. The process was reactivated in 2026 and PSOE and Sumar finally reached an agreement on the text. In September, Congress approved the initiative and sent it to the Senate to continue its processing. The vote in the Lower House passed with 168 votes in favor, 31 against, and 145 abstentions. Vox was the only group that voted against, while the PP abstained. 

The problem came in the Senate. The PP presented amendments to the text and the initiative remained pending its debate and final vote. The Plenary in which the law was scheduled to be addressed can no longer be held as planned due to the dissolution of the Cortes caused by the electoral call. Thus, a norm that had passed the Congress procedure is left without parliamentary effect and must begin its journey again if the next Cortes decide to recover it.

Sumar asks for a decree solution to prevent the law from coming to nothing

Given this scenario, Sumar deputy and Sahrawi native Tesh Sidi has suggested that the Government seek an alternative way to grant nationality without having to wait for new parliamentary processing. The proposed option involves using the letter of naturalization, a procedure that would allow the Government to grant nationality by royal decree to those who prove they meet the requirements. In that case, affected individuals would have to submit their applications to the Ministry of Justice and each file would be studied individually.

Sidi has lamented that a law approved by “broad parliamentary majorities” ends up lapsing with the electoral call and has described the situation as “a sad day personally and for the Sahrawi people.” The deputy also pointed out that there would still be one last possibility to save the initiative before the dissolution becomes effective: for the PP to withdraw the amendments it presented in the Senate. The alternative of the royal decree would allow avoiding the issue from being completely paralyzed, but it would not be the same as approving the law that was underway. Instead of establishing new regulation through a norm approved by the Cortes, the Government would have to resort to the letter of naturalization route and study the corresponding applications.

If this route is finally not used, the other option will be to wait for the new Cortes to be constituted after the elections on November 29. From there, the parties that want to regain the initiative will have to push for its processing again and get the necessary support to move it forward. For Sahrawi groups, the early election thus means a new delay in a demand that has been on the table for years. A law that had already passed Congress now runs out of road before reaching its final approval, and its future will depend on the decisions made by the next Government and the new Parliament.