Spanish Lawmakers Advance Citizenship Legislation for Western Saharans Born Under Colonial Rule

Lawmakers in Spain’s lower house of parliament have approved a legislative initiative that seeks to grant Spanish nationality to tens of thousands of Sahrawis who were born when Western Sahara was under Spanish administrative rule. The bill also extends citizenship rights to their direct descendants, representing a major step toward addressing long-standing legal grievances tied to the colonial era.

The draft law cleared the Congress of Deputies following a vote that concluded with 168 members voting in favor, 31 opposed, and 145 abstaining. Having successfully navigated the lower chamber, the legislative proposal will now move to the Spanish Senate for further review, where lawmakers are expected to introduce amendments before the bill returns to the lower house for a final vote.

Under the framework outlined in the approved text, the pathway to citizenship through naturalization will be accessible to Sahrawis born before September 29, 1977, as well as their children. Notably, applicants will not be required to have maintained residency in Spain to qualify for naturalization under the proposed law.

While the definitive number of individuals who will ultimately claim Spanish nationality remains uncertain, Sahrawi advocacy groups project that the eligibility pool spans between 70,000 and 120,000 individuals. Proponents of the measure have framed the legislation as a vital step toward correcting what they describe as a historical injustice stemming from Spain’s colonial withdrawal from the region.

The legislative push was originally filed by the left-wing Sumar coalition, which serves as the junior partner in Spain’s national government, and received full support from the governing Socialist Party. Leftist lawmakers argued that granting nationality restores legal rights that were arbitrarily severed when Spain abruptly ended its administrative responsibilities decades ago.

Tesh Sidi, a lawmaker representing the Sumar coalition and the first woman of Sahrawi heritage to serve in the Spanish Parliament, championed the draft legislation during the debate. She stressed that the policy represents a restoration of legal status, emphasizing that it returns national identity credentials to Sahrawis who previously held them before the Spanish state revoked their documentation.

Parliamentary support for the measure reflected existing political fractures within Spain. While the governing left-wing parties united to pass the bill, the primary conservative opposition, the People’s Party, chose to abstain during the vote. Lawmakers from the far-right Vox party stood firmly against the initiative, registering their formal opposition.

The roots of the issue trace back to 1975, when Western Sahara ceased to be a Spanish colony. At that time, Madrid relinquished its administrative control following tri-party agreements involving Morocco and Mauritania, which set the stage for decades of unresolved geopolitical disputes across the territory.

Following the departure of Spanish authorities, Morocco began asserting control over Western Sahara and continues to claim full sovereignty over the region. That position has faced enduring resistance from the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed liberation movement seeking formal international recognition for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

The political impasse has left the Sahrawi population scattered across multiple regions. While some continue to reside within Western Sahara under Moroccan administration, large numbers live as displaced persons in refugee camps near Tindouf in western Algeria, and many others have dispersed abroad.

The parliamentary vote occurs during an exceptionally sensitive diplomatic period between Madrid and Rabat. Bilateral ties between the two capitals have faced persistent strains over migration management and territorial integrity, particularly regarding Spain's North African autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

Tensions flared significantly in July following the mass arrival of at least 70,000 migrants entering the Spanish territory of Ceuta from Morocco. While Spain’s left-led administration avoided directly blaming the Moroccan government for the border situation, right-wing opposition parties in Madrid accused authorities in Rabat of intentionally orchestrating the influx for political leverage.

Compounding these diplomatic sensitivities is Morocco's continued refusal to officially recognize Spanish sovereignty over both Ceuta and Melilla, leaving cross-border relations perpetually vulnerable to sudden geopolitical disputes.

Despite the broader friction, the parliamentary initiative has not triggered an official condemnation from Rabat, even as public opinion within Morocco has shown signs of division over the Spanish measure.

Moroccan media highlighted statements from Ramadan Messaoud, who serves on the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs and presides over the Sahrawi Association for Human Rights. In remarks made earlier in the summer, Messaoud indicated that Rabat held no objections to Sahrawis securing Spanish citizenship, observing that individuals from the region had already obtained nationality through existing legal mechanisms in previous years.

As the bill advances to the Senate, the final statutory language will undergo further parliamentary scrutiny before returning for final legislative endorsement, keeping the focus on how Spain navigates its historical legacy in North Africa.