The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has described as "outrage," "nonsense," and "absurdity" the decision of the Supreme Court to suspend the voting rights of the descendants of exiles who obtained Spanish nationality through the known 'grandchildren's law,' just weeks before the general elections scheduled for November 29.
"We are talking about a law from the year 2022 that allowed people to vote in the regional and local elections, and in the general elections in 2023," the minister recalled in an interview on 'Malas Lenguas' on La 2, reported by Europa Press, where he questioned "for what reason" they are going to "prevent" them from voting "now."
Torres explained that, after visiting countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Uruguay, he saw firsthand that there are "people who want to take advantage" of the norm because "they had to leave Spain due to political persecution or also ideological reasons or also economic reasons and who are Spanish."
The so-called 'grandchildren's law,' included as a provision in the Democratic Memory Law, allows the descendants of those who were forced to leave the country for political reasons, among other situations contemplated in the legislation, to apply for Spanish nationality.
"They were prevented from voting because there was no democracy in those 40 years of dictatorship and now that we are in a democratic stage where they have already voted," the person responsible for Democratic Memory pointed out, emphasizing the paradox of now limiting their participation in the polls.
The minister also focused on the dates chosen by the Supreme Court to communicate its decisions. He highlighted that the court announced its resolution this Monday, October 12, after making public the conviction of the former Attorney General on November 20, and spoke of "unbelievable coincidences."
"The first," referring to November 20, is "the death of the dictator" [referring to Francisco Franco] and "today, the day we are commemorating our big day." "These are dates marked by the recovery of freedoms," he assured, and "the beginning of the end of the dictatorship."
In this line, he has warned that the Supreme Court's decision generates a kind of "first-class Spaniards" and "second-class" if it allows voting for "the descendants of those who stayed" in Spain "during four decades of dictatorship," but not "those who had to leave for exile for political reasons." "It is an absolute injustice," he concluded.
In response to the opposition's accusations of "electoral fraud" and "botched jobs," Torres defended that Spain is a "guaranteeing" country and pointed out that "it seems that some who are afraid of losing, as they lost in 2023" and for that reason "start to point fingers at others" to be able to claim that "there is electoral fraud" if they are defeated again in the general elections on November 29.
The minister also confirmed that "the affected" will appeal to the Constitutional Court and expressed his desire that, "for the good of democracy," of the "Constitution" and "of the rights that all Spaniards have," the high court "must rule before November 29."
Insults to Pedro Sánchez on October 12
Asked about the coldness between the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, during the military parade on October 12, Torres downplayed the scene and considered it normal that there are "colder" greetings between leaders, since "it is normal that there are better relationships with some than with others."
However, he condemned the insults directed at the head of the Executive and pointed out that, if they were directed against another institutional representative, "he would not like it." "We have a thousand ways to express our points of view, now we have elections," he added, to emphasize that "I believe that the one who insults loses the reasons, loses a postulate that he wants or can maintain and express with words."
Tension and protests at Puerta del Sol
At another moment in the interview, Torres attributed the escalation of political tension to the public officials themselves, who in his opinion must "lower the pitch," although he particularly criticized "the messages from the right and the far-right" that talk about putting "in jail" and "ending" with the President of the Government. "I believe that generates revengefulness," he warned.
In relation to the protests over the housing crisis in Puerta del Sol, he criticized that "dictatorial measures" are being taken against the people camping. "Don't you like democracy? That's the question," he raised. Therefore, he demanded that "people manifest freely, even if what they say we don't like."