Sánchez seeks to add more than 2.5 million immigrants as new voters through mass nationalizations

Schengen area.

Even so, the potential effect on the Absent Resident Electoral Census is significant. In the 2023 general elections, this register exceeded 2.28 million voters, although with a reduced turnout, around 8%. Despite this, external voting has already proven to be decisive in the allocation of seats in recent calls. The volume of requests made it necessary to enable additional telematic systems to prevent consular collapse: more than 1.17 million were made in person and about 1.39 million digitally

.

In parallel, the Executive awarded a contract for 1.7 million euros to expedite the processing of nationalities. The selected company was Neoris España SL, which will provide development, maintenance and support services to the Ministry of Justice's systems. The award was made by the Contracting Board of the Secretary of State for Justice, under the ministry headed by Félix Bolaños, through the General Directorate of Legal Security

and Public Faith.

The volume of files linked to this route amounts to approximately 2.3 million, corresponding to descendants of Spaniards living abroad.

While a significant part has already been resolved favorably, the rest are still being processed within the legal framework of nationality by option, which includes children and grandchildren of emigrants before 1978, according to the provisions extended by the regulations of 2022.

The communist government of Pedro Sánchez is moving forward in a process of expanding the electoral body that could significantly alter the Spanish political map. Through the accelerated granting of nationality to millions of people abroad, the Executive promotes a policy that various parliamentary sources interpret as a maneuver to compensate for their lack of domestic support. Under the umbrella of the Democratic Memory Act, known as the “grandchildren's law”, the Government provided access to the Spanish passport to descendants of exiles from the Civil War and the Franco regime, as well as to the children of women who lost their nationality when marrying foreigners. The deadline for taking advantage of this mechanism ended on October 22, 2025, after an extension, generating an

unprecedented volume of requests.

The figures show the magnitude of the phenomenon. By the end of February, 2,560,193 requests were registered, of which 538,329 cases had already been resolved. Of these, 531,297 were approved compared to just 7,032 denials, giving an acceptance rate close to 98%. If this trend continues, the total number of new citizens could well exceed 2.5 million. From the opposition, VOX denounces the Executive's lack of transparency. They say they have repeatedly requested detailed information about the concessions without obtaining clear answers, accusing the Government of avoiding specifying the true electoral scope of

these nationalizations.

The key to the process lies in the immediate political rights it grants. Unlike other migratory mechanisms, beneficiaries directly acquire the right to vote after their registration in the Civil Registry. Of the approved files, nearly 292,944 people have already completed this procedure, leaving them eligible to participate in future elections without restrictions. However, the electoral impact is nuanced. Among the new nationals there are minors and the elderly, which limits their immediate weight. In addition, diplomatic sources stress that many do not seek to get involved in Spanish politics, but rather to access the advantages of a European passport that facilitates mobility and job opportunities within the