The Spanish Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, filed a protective appeal this Friday before the Constitutional Court in an attempt to overturn the suspension of the voting rights of thousands of citizens who were naturalized under the so-called Grandchildren's Law, in anticipation of the general elections on November 29, 2026.
According to the official statement from the Defender of the People, Gabilondo requested the Constitutional Court to take "extremely urgent measures" and to rule on "the Supreme Court's interpretation regarding the suspension of the fundamental right to vote for Spaniards who have obtained nationality under the Law of Democratic Memory."
The action takes place four days after the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Supreme Court rejected the State's appeal and upheld the precautionary suspension of the vote for certain naturalized individuals registered in the Electoral Census of Absent Residents (CERA).
The high court dismissed the arguments of the State Attorney's Office and the Prosecutor's Office, which had warned that reviewing consular files before the elections was materially impossible and that the measure violated a fundamental right.
The Supreme Court, on the other hand, upheld that the right to vote is not "absolute," but is subject to "general interests," such as "preserving the accuracy and absence of irregularities in the electoral roll, which must take precedence over the individual interest of the citizen."
The suspension potentially affects 163,020 voters, according to data provided by the Spanish Government to the Supreme Court, making it the first mass restriction of suffrage in the history of Spanish democracy just weeks before an election.
Gabilondo made the decision after receiving requests from individuals and entities, including the General Council of Spanish Citizens Abroad (CGCEE), an advisory body that represents more than three million Spaniards living outside of Spain.
That organization submitted a document to him on October 13 requesting that he appeal to the Constitutional Court and that measures be adopted to protect the voting rights of those registered in the CERA, invoking Article 14 of the Constitution — "Spaniards are equal before the law" — and Article 23.1, which guarantees the right to participate in public affairs through periodic elections by universal suffrage.
The suspension also creates two striking paradoxes: those who obtained citizenship through the Grandchildren's Law and currently reside in Spain will be able to vote on November 29, because the restriction only affects registrations in the foreign census; and there are individuals who did exercise their vote in the 2023 elections and will now be excluded.
Meanwhile, those affected by the suspension have until October 22 to appear before the Supreme Court as co-defendants, with a lawyer and legal representative, following the announcement of the deadline in the Official State Bulletin on October 15.
The resource of the Defender faces, however, a possible procedural obstacle: the principle of subsidiarity in constitutional protection requires having previously exhausted ordinary judicial channels, and sources from the Constitutional Court have warned that it could be dismissed if this requirement is not met.
This action is one of the last significant initiatives of Gabilondo's term, which expires on November 16, even before the elections are held, the outcome of which could be influenced by the exclusion of more than 163,000 voters.
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