Spain’s Supreme Court has rejected a bid by the far-right party Vox and the legal group Iustitia Europa to extend an overseas voting suspension ahead of the general election on 29 November. In a separate ruling on Monday, the court kept the original suspension in place.
The bid concerned adult children who acquired Spanish nationality under a separate provision of the Democratic Memory Law, commonly known as the ‘grandchildren’s law’. They can vote if they are on the overseas electoral roll, even if their parents’ voting rights remain suspended.
The judges said there was too little time before voting began to identify those who would be affected by an extension, give them a chance to respond and revise the electoral roll.
The court also rejected challenges to its September order, which covered 163,355 Spaniards living abroad who had obtained nationality under another provision of the same law. Of those, 901 can vote after proving they were descendants of exiles. ALSO READ: Spain’s Supreme Court keeps overseas voting restrictions in place for 29 November election.
Court cites tight timetable for changing electoral roll
Vox and Iustitia Europa had asked the court to extend its September order to adult children whose claim to Spanish nationality derived from a parent covered by that order. By the time the request was made, more than half the election period had elapsed, campaigning was a week away and in-person voting at consulates was due to begin in two weeks.
Spain’s State Legal Service opposed the request, arguing that another revision of the overseas electoral roll, known as the CERA, could jeopardise statutory election procedures and potentially affect the count. The judges said a late revision would run ‘counter to the requirements arising from the principles of legal certainty and electoral stability’ and could cause a ‘serious disruption of the general interest’.
Electoral authorities and consulates were already implementing the court’s September and October orders. As of 28 October, the Electoral Census Office still had 30,482 records to identify to carry out the original suspension. The judges also noted that when they issued the September order, an election was not imminent.
The overseas roll dated 1 August, which applies to the 29 November election, included 189,678 people who obtained nationality under the provision for adult children. That figure covers a wider group than the one targeted by Vox and Iustitia Europa. It also includes children of people who became Spanish under the 2007 Historical Memory Law, which is outside the scope of the court challenge. ALSO READ: Spain’s citizenship law for descendants abroad ignites election row.
Judge Antonio Jesús Fonseca-Herrero dissented, arguing that the same grounds that justified the September order also warranted extending it to the adult children. Judge Alicia Millán agreed with the majority’s decision to reject the request but set out separate reasons. Spanish media reported that Pedro Sánchez’s administration welcomed the outcome but regretted that the court had not applied the same reasoning to those already subject to the suspension.
Original suspension remains in force
In its separate ruling, the Supreme Court said figures supplied by the government reinforced its concerns about possible irregularities in the overseas roll. It cited 163,355 people affected by the September measure, of whom 901 had shown they were descendants of exiles and would be able to vote. ALSO READ: Spain’s Supreme Court provisionally restricts voting rights for some descendants granted nationality under ‘grandchildren’s law’.
The dispute centres on how the Justice Ministry instructed officials to apply the 2022 Democratic Memory Law, commonly known as the ‘grandchildren’s law’. Its October 2022 guidance presumes that Spaniards who left the country between 18 July 1936 and 31 December 1955 were exiles. The court reiterated its preliminary view that the ministry’s interpretation ‘does not appear to comply’ with the law itself. ALSO READ: Spain rules Franco regime ‘illegal’ with new ‘Democratic Memory Law’.
The judges stressed that the September order temporarily suspends the exercise of the right to vote for those affected. They retain their Spanish nationality and the underlying right.
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🔴El Supremo decide que los 190.000 hijos de nacionalizados por la Ley de Nietos, cuyos padres tienen el voto suspendido, pueden votar ▪️Rechaza las medidas cautelares propuestas por Iustitia Europa y Vox, al entender que se trata de un momento muy distinto a los nacionalizados por esa Ley 🎙️@gema_alfaro | @radio5_rne https://t.co/moY2KnKjhA
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) November 9, 2026
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