There's no perfect Spain on the ballot, only the one you vote for

There is no perfect Spain to vote for: there is the Spain that gets built with every ballot. The debate over the Grandchildren Law and tactical voting for the PP reflects that tension between what is desirable and what is possible.

Spanish politics has long been moving within a contradiction that many voters know well. On one hand, people demand an ideal, coherent Spain that responds to clear principles. On the other, the ballot box only offers concrete options, with their strengths and their flaws. That distance between what people want and what exists is at the heart of the discontent.

## The Grandchildren Law and the vote from abroad

The Grandchildren Law (Ley de Nietos), passed in **2022**, allows descendants of Spanish emigrants to obtain Spanish nationality. That includes people born in **Cuba** or **Venezuela**, countries where chavismo has governed for decades. The law requires neither prior residence nor knowledge of Spanish history. Nothing happens if you have never read **Pío Baroja** or don't know where **Cuenca** is.

The result is that citizens with the right to vote can influence Spanish elections without ever having lived here. It is legal, it is real, and it sparks an uncomfortable debate. Some argue it distorts the national will. Others point out that Spanish emigrants also voted from abroad during the Franco era. The question is not who is right, but what is done about this fact.

## Sánchez's calculation and tactical voting

**Pedro Sánchez** chairs the **Socialist International**, a position that gives him international visibility. Some interpret the Grandchildren Law as an attempt to consolidate that profile. The suspicion is unproven, but it circulates widely in the media and in conversation.

Faced with this, part of the electorate sees the **PP** (Spain's conservative People's Party) as the tactical vote. Not out of enthusiasm, but by elimination. The idea is that **Alberto Núñez Feijóo** may be the only real alternative to Sánchez. It is a pragmatic logic, not an idealistic one. And it explains why many voters swallow a party that does not fully represent them.

## Pensions, youth and the pensioner mindset

Pensions rise every year, but purchasing power does not always keep up. In **2023**, the increase was **8.5 %** for contributory pensions, although inflation ate up part of that gain. During the pandemic, the elderly were in theory the most protected group, but also the most isolated in practice. The state did not reach everyone.

Now, many of those pensioners vote thinking about their pension, not about the young. Young people face high rents, low wages and a precarity that speeches do not fix. That generational gap is not new, but it is widening. And no one seems willing to give ground.

## What remains when there is no perfect Spain

The Spain each person wants does not exist. The one that gets voted for does, with its flaws and its consequences. Tactical voting is not pretty, but it is a logical response when the opponent is perceived as a bigger risk. The PP knows it. So does Sánchez.

The question is not which Spain would be ideal, but which Spain can be avoided. And in that dilemma, many choose the lesser evil. It is not romanticism, it is electoral arithmetic.