Spain's Supreme Court gives Albares and Bolaños five days over Grandchildren Law list
Spain's Supreme Court gives ministers Albares and Bolaños five days to hand over the list of 163,020 people naturalized under the Grandchildren Law, under threat of fines and contempt charges.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Supreme Court tightens the screws on the Government over the Grandchildren Law list
How many people have been naturalized through the back door, and how many of them will get to vote? Spain's Supreme Court has been asking since September, and the answer still hasn't come. The Administrative Chamber has issued an ultimatum: five days for ministers José Manuel Albares and Félix Bolaños to hand over the list of the 163,020 people naturalized under the Grandchildren Law (a Spanish law granting citizenship to descendants of Spaniards), on pain of fines and possible incivil contempt charges. The Fourth Section had already warned in writing that the order had been "completely ignored." In other words: even the e-government the Executive brags about can't deliver information when it's inconvenient.
What the Supreme Court asked for and what it has received
The case stems from a precautionary measure that keeps the registration of those who obtained citizenship but were still pending the procedure suspended in the electoral census of resident non-voters (CERA). Those already registered had their voting rights suspended. To apply such a freeze, the High Court needs to know who is affected. And that's where everything gets stuck.
The Sofía Puente procedure under the Grandchildren Law was requested in September. Ten days before this latest warning, the Administrative Chamber decided to keep the precautionary measures in place and harshly criticized the General State Administration and the Electoral Census Office for failing to pass on the information. Legal sources consulted suggest the non-compliance could amount to a presumed offence of contempt of court, with the Foreign Minister in the crosshairs due to his organic oversight of the consular offices.
The slow-cooked electoral fix
The conversation doesn't stay at the procedural level. Some describe a deliberate stalling strategy: letting the calendar run out so the only route left is a post hoc challenge, with the Constitutional Court as a last safety net if the estimated margin allows the Government to hold on. If the gap is too wide, plan B would be different: unrest in the streets, strikes and administrative boycott of the incoming Executive's rules. It's the most pessimistic reading, and it circulates insistently.
The calculation causing the biggest stir has a name attached: the consul in Rosario, Pablo Platas, would have handed out 80,000 passports regardless of the exile requirement set by the Memory Law. The figure, circulated as an accusation, is not officially confirmed and should be treated for what it is: a claim awaiting verification. What is on the table is the overall volume of 163,020 files the Supreme Court is demanding.
From the electoral roll to the count: 29N in the crosshairs
The shadow of the electoral calendar hangs over everything. Less than 40 days from 29N (the November 29 election), attention shifts to who processes the provisional count: Indra, with the Spanish State as its largest shareholder through the SEPI. For some analysts, that detail alone is enough to distrust the whole process. For others, it's simple administrative routine that becomes a political weapon when convenient.
The comparison with Venezuela comes up again and again. So does the suspicion that the electoral roll has been inflated with naturalizations whose real purpose would be access to free healthcare, according to the testimony of a consular worker in Mexico. These are claims circulating without verification, and the Supreme Court itself, so far, has not validated them: it has only asked for the paperwork. And the paperwork isn't coming.
Incivil liability, one by one
Legally, the discussion gets more precise: incivil liability is not collective, it is individual. That doesn't prevent identifying those responsible and holding them to account. The problem is that in Spain, as the general feeling goes, nobody ends up in jail for this. The pandemic-management precedent weighs heavily: if no one fell then, why would anyone fall now.
The official narrative stays silent. The Supreme Court has set a deadline. And the Government, for now, whistles past the graveyard.
This article is based on published information and on the state of the proceedings as of the date of the discussion. Accusations against specific individuals do not constitute proven facts.
How many people have been naturalized through the back door, and how many of them will get to vote? Spain's Supreme Court has been asking since September, and the answer still hasn't come. The Administrative Chamber has issued an ultimatum: five days for ministers José Manuel Albares and Félix Bolaños to hand over the list of the 163,020 people naturalized under the Grandchildren Law (a Spanish law granting citizenship to descendants of Spaniards), on pain of fines and possible incivil contempt charges. The Fourth Section had already warned in writing that the order had been "completely ignored." In other words: even the e-government the Executive brags about can't deliver information when it's inconvenient.
What the Supreme Court asked for and what it has received
The case stems from a precautionary measure that keeps the registration of those who obtained citizenship but were still pending the procedure suspended in the electoral census of resident non-voters (CERA). Those already registered had their voting rights suspended. To apply such a freeze, the High Court needs to know who is affected. And that's where everything gets stuck.
The Sofía Puente procedure under the Grandchildren Law was requested in September. Ten days before this latest warning, the Administrative Chamber decided to keep the precautionary measures in place and harshly criticized the General State Administration and the Electoral Census Office for failing to pass on the information. Legal sources consulted suggest the non-compliance could amount to a presumed offence of contempt of court, with the Foreign Minister in the crosshairs due to his organic oversight of the consular offices.
The slow-cooked electoral fix
The conversation doesn't stay at the procedural level. Some describe a deliberate stalling strategy: letting the calendar run out so the only route left is a post hoc challenge, with the Constitutional Court as a last safety net if the estimated margin allows the Government to hold on. If the gap is too wide, plan B would be different: unrest in the streets, strikes and administrative boycott of the incoming Executive's rules. It's the most pessimistic reading, and it circulates insistently.
The calculation causing the biggest stir has a name attached: the consul in Rosario, Pablo Platas, would have handed out 80,000 passports regardless of the exile requirement set by the Memory Law. The figure, circulated as an accusation, is not officially confirmed and should be treated for what it is: a claim awaiting verification. What is on the table is the overall volume of 163,020 files the Supreme Court is demanding.
From the electoral roll to the count: 29N in the crosshairs
The shadow of the electoral calendar hangs over everything. Less than 40 days from 29N (the November 29 election), attention shifts to who processes the provisional count: Indra, with the Spanish State as its largest shareholder through the SEPI. For some analysts, that detail alone is enough to distrust the whole process. For others, it's simple administrative routine that becomes a political weapon when convenient.
The comparison with Venezuela comes up again and again. So does the suspicion that the electoral roll has been inflated with naturalizations whose real purpose would be access to free healthcare, according to the testimony of a consular worker in Mexico. These are claims circulating without verification, and the Supreme Court itself, so far, has not validated them: it has only asked for the paperwork. And the paperwork isn't coming.
Incivil liability, one by one
Legally, the discussion gets more precise: incivil liability is not collective, it is individual. That doesn't prevent identifying those responsible and holding them to account. The problem is that in Spain, as the general feeling goes, nobody ends up in jail for this. The pandemic-management precedent weighs heavily: if no one fell then, why would anyone fall now.
The official narrative stays silent. The Supreme Court has set a deadline. And the Government, for now, whistles past the graveyard.
This article is based on published information and on the state of the proceedings as of the date of the discussion. Accusations against specific individuals do not constitute proven facts.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (161 replies).
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