The mail-in vote divides the PP at the full start of the 29N while Vox stirs doubts about its guarantees

The so-called “grandchildren law” is not an autonomous law, but rather the eighth additional provision of Law 20/2022, on Democratic Memory. Its parliamentary processing is completely concluded and the nationality regime it establishes has been in force since October 2022. There is currently no “new grandchildren law” project underway, but rather political and judicial reforms and disputes regarding its application.

1. What the regulation is and how it was processed

According to official sources and the newspaper Demócrata, the “grandchildren law” is the eighth additional provision of Law 20/2022, of October 19, on Democratic Memory, approved by the General Courts in 2022 and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) that same month.

This provision opened an exceptional pathway to opt for Spanish nationality for:

• People born outside Spain, with a father/mother or grandfather/grandmother originally Spanish who lost or renounced nationality as a consequence of exile for political, ideological, belief reasons or due to sexual orientation and identity.
• Sons and daughters born abroad of Spanish women who lost nationality by marrying a foreigner before the 1978 Constitution.
• Adult sons and daughters of those who obtained nationality by origin under Law 52/2007 (Historical Memory) or under Law 20/2022 itself.

All this was approved as part of the Democratic Memory Law project: it passed the debate and votes in the Congress, then in the Senate, and was finally sanctioned, promulgated, and published in the BOE. Since then, the regulation has been in force; there are no pending parliamentary procedures regarding that specific provision.

2. Deadlines and subsequent application decisions

The eighth additional provision set an initial two-year deadline from the entry into force of Law 20/2022 to opt for nationality through this route. That deadline expired in October 2024.

Subsequently, the Council of Ministers approved a one-year extension , as stated in the official note from the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory dated July 9, 2024. With this extension, the total period to initiate applications was extended until October 22, 2025.

From October 23, 2025, consular offices stopped accepting new applications, but:

• They continue processing and resolving all files initiated within the deadline (applications, appointments, or credentials requested before October 22, 2025).
• The law remains the legal basis for these procedures, and nationality granted through this route is fully valid.

To apply the law, the Ministry of Justice also issued an instruction dated October 25, 2022 from the Directorate General of Legal Security and Public Faith, which specifies practical criteria (for example, the presumption of exile for those who left Spain between 1936 and 1955). This instruction, along with consular circulars and instructions, is the main administrative development of the “grandchildren law.”

3. Current status of processing and implementation

From a strictly parliamentary point of view, the legislative cycle of the eighth additional provision is closed: the law is approved, published, and producing effects. There is no new “grandchildren law” text currently undergoing the ordinary procedure.

What does exist in 2026 is:

• A massive ongoing application: according to government notes, hundreds of thousands of nationality applications have been registered and hundreds of thousands of files have already been approved under Law 20/2022.
• A judicial and electoral controversy regarding the impact on the external census. The Supreme Court has agreed on precautionary measures that condition the exercise of voting rights of those naturalized through this route if they do not effectively prove the exile of the ascendant, but this does not affect the parliamentary status nor the validity of the additional provision.
• Collateral parliamentary initiatives in process (for example, amendments in other laws to safeguard the vote of these new nationals), which seek to redefine specific effects of the “grandchildren law,” not to replace the basic nationality regime.

4. What steps remain truly pending

Therefore, regarding “definitive implementation”:

• No essential parliamentary steps remain pending for the “grandchildren law” to be applicable: it already is, and it has generated a huge volume of naturalizations.
• What remains is mainly administrative management: resolution of all files initiated within the deadline, possible complementary instructions, and organization of consular and registry resources.
• In parallel, legislative adjustments may occur (for example, regarding voting rights) and judicial rulings that delimit the interpretation of the 2022 instruction, but these belong to a phase of “development and control” of an existing regulation, not to its original parliamentary processing.

The Central Electoral Board (JEC) is the highest administrative body responsible for ensuring the cleanliness, impartiality, and objectivity of electoral processes in Spain. It acts as the supreme arbiter in electoral matters and as the supervisory body for the entire electoral organization, from the call for elections to the definitive proclamation of results.

1. General function of supervising the electoral process

The JEC coordinates and supervises the actions of the entire electoral administration (provincial electoral boards, district boards, autonomous community boards, and polling stations) to ensure that the process is carried out in accordance with the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) and other applicable regulations. This involves:

• Issuing general criteria and instructions to unify the interpretation of electoral legislation.
• Resolving interpretative doubts about the application of LOREG during all phases of the process.
• Ensuring the correct constitution and functioning of lower electoral boards.

2. Control of the neutrality of public authorities and public media

One of the most visible functions of the JEC is to guarantee the neutrality of public authorities during the electoral period. In this framework, it is responsible for:

• Controlling that governments and administrations do not use public resources for partisan purposes during the campaign and electoral period.
• Overseeing institutional activity (events, informational campaigns, inaugurations, institutional advertising) to prevent it from becoming covert propaganda.
• Supervising the behavior of publicly owned media, requiring them to respect the principles of pluralism, equality, proportionality, and neutrality.
• Ordering corrections (for example, rectifications or redistribution of airtime) when imbalances or violations of these principles are detected.

3. Organization and control of candidacies, ballots, and polling stations

In the more strictly organizational dimension of the process, the Central Electoral Board has, among others, the following functions:

• Resolving appeals against the proclamation of candidacies made by provincial or district boards.
• Setting criteria on the denomination, acronyms, and symbols of candidacies to avoid confusion with others already existing.
• Supervising the design of ballots and electoral envelopes and resolving disputes about their content.
• Interpreting and unifying criteria on the composition of polling stations, as well as resolving claims related to excuses and substitutions of their members.

4. Proclamation of elected candidates and general scrutiny

Although the general scrutiny is carried out by provincial electoral boards and, where applicable, those of autonomous communities, the JEC plays a key role in the final proclamation:

• Supervising the scrutiny and resolving claims about the counting of votes, null or valid votes, and seat allocation.
• Carrying out the proclamation of elected candidates in nationwide processes (for example, general elections to the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, European Parliament) when established by law.
• Resolving incidents related to the vote of residents absent abroad and other special votes, setting uniform criteria for their counting.

5. Sanctioning power and resolution of complaints and appeals

The JEC also exercises quasi-judicial functions in the administrative sphere, by handling:

• Claims and appeals against agreements of lower electoral boards, being able to revoke or modify them.
• Complaints for violations of electoral regulations (for example, breach of the reflection day, prohibited surveys or propaganda, misuse of public resources).
• Sanctioning procedures against parties, public officials, candidates, or media that breach electoral rules, imposing fines or other corrective measures.

6. Issuance of instructions, agreements, and reports

The JEC is also a technical reference body in electoral matters:

• It approves binding general instructions for the entire electoral administration on practical aspects of organizing elections and consultations.
• It issues agreements and interpretations that, in practice, complete the application of electoral regulations to unforeseen or doubtful situations.
• It provides opinions on regulatory projects affecting the electoral regime when consulted, contributing its experience in managing electoral processes.

7. Guarantee of fundamental rights in the electoral process

Finally, the Central Electoral Board acts as a guarantor of the rights of active and passive suffrage and of equal opportunities among candidacies. To this end:

• It corrects situations that unjustifiably limit the right to political participation.
• It orders measures to restore equality among candidacies when it detects undue advantages obtained.
• It facilitates, within its competencies, access to voting for groups with special difficulties (people with disabilities, residents abroad, etc.), through interpretative criteria that make the exercise of suffrage effective.

Together, these powers make the JEC an essential pillar of the Spanish democratic system, ensuring that elections are conducted with full guarantees of transparency, impartiality, and respect for legality.

To request postal voting in general elections (Congress and Senate), a Spanish citizen must meet a series of basic legal requirements, mainly established in the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) and its regulatory development. The requirements vary depending on whether the person resides in Spain, is temporarily abroad, or permanently resides outside Spain.

1. Common general requirements

• Nationality and age: be a Spanish citizen and have turned 18 years old on or before the voting day.
• Registration in the electoral census:
  • Those who habitually reside in Spain must be registered in the Electoral Census of Residents (CER) of the municipality where they are registered.
  • Those who habitually reside abroad must be registered in the Electoral Census of Absent Residents (CERA) in the corresponding consular district.
  • Those residing in Spain but who will be temporarily abroad on election day may be registered in the CER and process a temporary registration as non-residents (for electoral purposes) through the consulate.
• Not being deprived of the right to vote: not having been convicted by a final sentence to the penalty of deprivation of the right to vote during the time of the sentence. After LOREG reforms, people with disabilities generally retain their right to vote, without automatic exclusion.
• Respecting legal deadlines: the request and sending of postal votes must be done within the deadlines set in the electoral calendar of each call (usually, the request is accepted from the call until a few days before voting, and the vote must arrive at the polling station before the legal closing time).

2. Spaniards residing in Spain requesting postal voting

For voters registered in the Spanish census (CER) who will be within national territory, postal voting is an alternative to in-person voting at the polling station.

• Personal request at the Post Office:
  • It must be made personally at a Post Office, except in cases of illness or accredited disability (where representation by special notarized power and medical certificate is accepted).
  • It is mandatory to prove identity with original DNI, passport, or Spanish driving license (simple photocopies are usually not accepted).
  • The request indicates the address where the electoral documentation is to be received (usual residence, workplace, etc.).
• Reception of documentation:
  • The Electoral Census Office sends the documentation (ballots, envelopes, and certificate of census registration) by certified mail to the indicated address.
  • Delivery is usually made in person to the voter, after identity verification; if absent, a notice is left and must be collected with identification.
• Sending the vote:
  • The voter selects the ballot, places it in the voting envelope, and includes the certificate of census registration.
  • The envelope addressed to the corresponding polling station must be sent by certified mail within the legal deadline. Postage is free.
• Key legal effect: once the postal vote has been requested and accepted by the Electoral Census Office, the voter can no longer vote in person at the polling station on election day, even if the envelope is not ultimately sent.

3. Spaniards habitually residing abroad (CERA)

Spaniards registered in the CERA vote from their country of residence. The key requirements are:

• Be registered as a resident in the Consular Registration and appear in the CERA of the corresponding consulate.
• Retain the right to vote and Spanish nationality.
• Identify themselves before consular authorities with Spanish DNI or passport.
• Follow the specific instructions and deadlines of each call:
  • Reception of electoral documentation sent by the Electoral Census Office to the address abroad or made available at the consular office.
  • Issuance of the postal vote addressed to Spain or deposit in the consulate ballot box, according to the regulation in force at that time and the electoral calendar.

4. Spaniards temporarily abroad (non-residents)

Citizens who habitually reside in Spain but expect to be outside the territory on voting day can vote from abroad under these conditions:

• Be registered in the Spanish resident census (CER) in their municipality.
• Go personally to the consular office corresponding to the place of stay to register temporarily as a non-resident for electoral purposes, within the established deadline.
• Provide valid Spanish DNI or passport.
• Receive electoral documentation at the indicated address abroad and send the vote by mail to the polling station in Spain, always within the established deadlines.

In all cases, the key legal aspect is twofold: meet the subjective conditions (nationality, majority age, census registration, and not being deprived of suffrage) and strictly comply with formal procedures (personal request when applicable, accepted identification, deadlines, and form of sending). Failure to comply with any of these elements may result in the vote not being accepted by the polling station.