Spanish Diplomats Blast Sánchez Citizenship Law as ‘Obscurantism’
Spain's diplomatic corps condemned the government's lack of transparency over a citizenship law that granted nationality to hundreds of thousands of emigrants' descendants, raising electoral integrity concerns.
The Asociación de Diplomáticos Españoles (ADE), representing career diplomats, issued a sharply worded statement on July 14 warning that the government’s refusal to provide transparent explanations about the nationality process has cast a shadow over both the state administration and the reliability of Spain’s electoral system, according to Brussels Signal.
The controversy centers on the Democratic Memory Law, commonly known in Spain as the ley de nietos or grandchildren’s law, which was passed in October 2022. Originally intended for descendants of Spaniards forced into political exile, the law’s scope was dramatically expanded just four days after taking effect through an administrative instruction signed by Sofía Puente, then a senior justice ministry official.
That instruction broadened eligibility to include children and grandchildren of Spaniards more generally, a move that remains under legal challenge. The result has been an explosion of applications far beyond what the law’s framers envisioned.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has acknowledged that 545,000 applications have been approved from approximately 2.4 million submitted, with 306,500 entries made in consular civil registers. The scale of the program has overwhelmed Spain’s consular network and fueled suspicions among opposition parties.
The diplomatic association’s statement comes as both the Partido Popular and Vox, Spain’s right-wing party, have questioned the integrity of the overseas vote ahead of the 2027 general election. The diplomats warned that the gravest consequence of the government’s opacity is the doubt now surrounding the electoral system itself.
The ADE, chaired by Alberto Virella, described Spain’s consular network as being in a critical state, with nearly 3 million Spaniards registered abroad and surging demand for visas, nationality files, and immigration paperwork. The association accused the ministry’s political leadership of poor management and lack of interest in diplomatic staff, whose workload has increased sharply.
While defending the integrity and professionalism of Spain’s foreign service, the diplomats particularly criticized the government’s decision to outsource consular work to private companies to clear the backlog. The foreign ministry has awarded contracts exceeding €1.3 million to Grupo Palco, a Cuban state firm, to supply staff to the embassy and consulate general in Havana, and has relied on Spanish engineering company Ineco in Argentina.
The association warned that outsourcing is not an adequate solution and could have undesirable consequences unless carried out transparently with precise information provided to consular managers and political actors requesting it.
The diplomatic corps called on Sánchez and Albares to answer media questions and clear up doubts raised in political debate, warning that failure to do so threatens the health of Spanish democracy. The statement represents a rare public rebuke from career diplomats against a sitting government.
The citizenship controversy adds to mounting troubles for Sánchez’s administration, which has faced criticism over mass immigrant regularization programs and ongoing corruption investigations involving members of his inner circle.
With information from Brussels Signal
