Spanish citizenship granted to Mexicans outside the grandchildren law

Spanish citizenship is being granted to people who do not meet the requirements of the grandchildren law (a 2022 measure allowing descendants of Spaniards to reclaim nationality), according to The Objective, with cases such as a 93-year-old Mexican with no Spanish parents or grandparents. The legal and political debate centres on whether these registrations are fraudulently inflating the electoral roll.

The grandchildren law was born with a specific purpose: to repair the uprooting of those who lost Spanish nationality through exile or the dictatorship. The law, in force since 2022, allows children and grandchildren of Spaniards to recover the passport without renouncing the one they already hold. So far, the official story. The problem arises when the framework is stretched to cover people who should not be covered.

## A 93-year-old Mexican with no Spanish grandparents

The Objective has documented that Spanish citizenship is being granted to people who should not be covered by the grandchildren law. The example the outlet gives is concrete: the Government has naturalised a 93-year-old Mexican with no Spanish parents or grandparents. The requirement of a family link with Spain, which is the basis of the law, is not met in that file.

The mechanism described is that of children or grandchildren of Mexican citizens born in Mexico before 1920, that is, years or even decades before the Franco dictatorship. Such an early birth has no connection with the republican exile or with the loss of nationality the law was meant to repair. The 1920 date works here as a boundary: anyone born before it could not have lost a Spanish nationality they may never have had.

The granting of these citizenships is no minor administrative detail. Every new Spaniard enters the electoral register and can vote in general elections from abroad. The grandchildren law does not require residence in Spain, so the passport and the right to vote travel together.

## A register that swells before the ballot box opens

The artist Proserpina has published an analysis titled "Grandchildren Law, the perfect electoral crime". Her thesis is that the electoral roll is being fraudulently inflated by making each registration look formally impeccable because it rests on an already-granted citizenship. The fraud leaves no trace at the ballot box because it is consummated long before it opens.

That is the most uncomfortable point. A citizenship granted irregularly is not detected on voting day: it is detected, if at all, during the review of the file, when the vote has already been cast and counted. The chain begins with an administrative decision and ends in a ballot paper.

Proserpina also points to the institutional responsibility: when the one meant to be the referee of the system becomes just another player, there is no safety net left beneath our feet. The phrase points to the Government, which grants citizenship by royal decree and signs the resolutions under the grandchildren law.

## The open letter to judge Biedma

The judicial matter runs on a different track, but shares the same core. Javier Gómez de Liaño published in El Debate an open letter to judge **Beatriz Biedma** in which he describes what peine to her as the most serious event in Spanish judicial history since democracy began. The letter expresses gratitude for her example and criticises those who refuse to acknowledge it.

Among those singled out are the **nine members of the General Council of the Judiciary** (Spain's governing body for judges) who refused to sign a statement of support presented by their colleagues. Gómez de Liaño argues that this refusal creates the impression of people who understand justice only in ideological terms and speculate with it, undermining its purity. The letter is dated 19 October 2026.

The text is not an isolated piece. It is published at a time when the opposition seems to have changed its attitude, prioritising the removal of **Pedro Sánchez** from the Moncloa (the prime minister's residence) over any internal rivalry. **Feijóo** and **Abascal** have chosen heavyweight deputies: **Ester Muñoz** as the PP's spokesperson in Congress and **Montserrat Lluis** as Vox's number two for Madrid.

## Two lead candidates and a long-distance race

The candidates' ages have entered the conversation. The PP's lead candidate in **Guipúzcoa** is **22 years old** and still studying for a degree, according to Lucía Méndez Prada. Marta Pastor's response adds another fact: the PSOE's lead candidate in **Vizcaya** is also studying for a degree, started it **47 years ago** and has already turned **67**.

The exchange serves a purpose beyond the joke. It raises the question of what experience is required of those who will legislate, and whether youth is a flaw or an excuse. There is no settled answer, but the contrast in ages between the two candidates is hard to ignore.

Meanwhile, the grandchildren law continues to grant passports and add names to the register. Every file approved without the required family link is a registration that is never reviewed afterwards. The perfect crime, if the diagnosis is confirmed, leaves no trace at the ballot box because it never gets there: it stays in the civil registry.