Complaint filed against Spanish prosecutor Puente over Grandchildren Law

The Grandchildren Law under scrutiny: complaint against Óscar Puente's sister

Was an administrative instruction used to sneak through the back door what Congress had rejected? That is what Hazte Oír claims in the complaint filed against prosecutor Sofía Puente, sister of minister Óscar Puente, for an alleged offence of misconduct in office.

On 25 October 2022, barely five days after the Democratic Memory Law was published in the BOE (Spain's official state gazette), Sofía Puente – then director general of Legal Security and Public Faith – signed an instruction that extended the presumption of exile to all Spaniards who left the country between 18 July 1936 and 31 December 1955. The original law only granted citizenship to descendants of those exiled for political, ideological or sensual-orientation reasons; Parliament had rejected amendments to extend it to economic emigrants.

Hazte Oír argues that the instruction has allowed «mass citizenship grants in fraud of the law» through the consulates, without applicants having to prove the cause of their exile. The association points out that the 18-page document was drafted in a materially impossible timeframe – five days – which would indicate it had been prepared before the law was published. A planned operation, according to the accusation.

Misconduct or administrative boldness?

The complainants maintain that Puente acted with full awareness that her instruction contravened the will of the legislator. «She was fully aware that Parliament had just rejected exactly what she established by the mere virtue of her signature», the 34-page filing states.

For now, the prosecutor's office must decide whether to admit the complaint for processing. The underlying question remains: how many of the hundreds of thousands of citizenships granted under this interpretation could be annulled if it is deemed illegal? The Ministry of Justice's silence is, to say the least, eloquent.