Lawyer Reimel Ariosa warns that the Spanish government could attempt a high-risk legal maneuver to protect the ministerial instruction of 2022 that expanded the scope of the Law of Grandchildren, but that such a path has serious chances of failing and leaving those already naturalized in a situation of greater uncertainty.
The context is as follows: the Supreme Court has just rejected the State's appeal and confirmed the precautionary suspension of the voting rights of 163,020 people who obtained Spanish nationality through the Law of Grandchildren, a measure that exclusively affects the general elections on November 29, 2026.
In an interview with Tania Costa, Ariosa addressed the question that most troubles the Cuban community: who is truly in danger, those who already have nationality or those who have yet to obtain it?
The lawyer explained that the Government could attempt to elevate the 2022 ministerial instruction —which expanded the grounds for nationalization to the period between 1936 and 1955— to the status of law through a decree-law that includes an amendment to an educational law. This maneuver would reach the Permanent Commission of Congress once Parliament has been dissolved, at the proposal of the Sumar Group.
Ariosa described that possible maneuver as a kind of cheating and was emphatic. "The judges have already ruled on these types of maneuvers. It's legal cheating and it has short legs because the reality is that it wouldn't be legal."
To illustrate that the government would not hesitate to resort to this mechanism, the presenter, Tania Costa, cited a recent precedent. "Look at what the Government of Spain did with the housing decrees: after being rejected by a wide majority in the Congress, they brought them back to the Permanent Deputation and approved them with 35 votes. They couldn't get it through in Congress by a majority and managed to pass it with 35 votes in the Permanent Deputation of Congress."
If the government were to carry out that maneuver, Ariosa outlines two possible scenarios. "Either it goes well because the Constitutional Court decides that it is properly done... or if it goes poorly because the Constitutional Court overturns it, we go back to square one, back to being dependent on the Supreme Court's ruling."
Regarding the substance of the litigation —the legality of the ministerial instruction from the Ministry of Justice, which extended the time frame for descendants of 'exiled' Spaniards who emigrated between 1936 and 1955 to obtain nationality— the lawyer was clear: "For now, the Supreme Court has not addressed the substance of the matter. No, it has not and we do not expect it to before November 29; it will not do so, this is going to take a while."
That delay is significant because, while the Supreme Court has not ruled on the matter, the suspension of the vote does not imply loss of nationality for anyone and the granting procedures continue normally.
Ariosa indicated that the greatest risk does not fall on those who already possess citizenship, but rather on those with pending applications, as the administrative or judicial criteria applied could change before their processes are finalized.
The Consulate General of Spain in Havana had accumulated over 137,700 files by mid-year, and it is estimated that between 300,000 and 350,000 people in Cuba initiated procedures since the enactment of the Law of Democratic Memory in October 2022.
According to Europa Press, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed its doubts regarding the legality of the ministerial order, although a resolution on the substantive issue has no expected date and could take years to resolve.
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