The Third Chamber of Spain's Supreme Court decided this Tuesday to temporarily suspend the registration of individuals in the electoral census who acquired Spanish nationality under the so-called "Grandchildren's Law." This decision directly impacts thousands of Cubans who processed their citizenship through this legislation.
The ruling was issued just a day after a public hearing held on Monday at the high court. During this session, the appealing organizations—Iustitia Europa and the political party Vox—warned that the upcoming general elections could be "irreversibly" compromised if the automatic registrations in the Census of Absent Residents (CERA) were not immediately halted.
Both the State Attorney's Office and the Prosecutor's Office opposed the measure, describing the alleged damages cited by the appellants as "potential" and "abstract," according to the Spanish news outlet ABC.
This suspension is temporary and does not address the core of the dispute, which involves a challenge to the Central Electoral Board's (JEC) agreement dated July 16, 2026. The plaintiffs accuse the JEC of "abdicating its supervisory role, hiding behind an alleged lack of competence."
The primary argument of those who advocated for the halt is that once votes are cast, reversing their validity is impossible, leading to "irreversible harm" to the elections.
Vox's Member of the European Parliament, Jorge Buxadé, highlighted during the hearing the scale of the issue: forecasts of between 10,000 and 16,000 monthly registrations in the CERA fell short, with 29,000 new entries recorded in just 60 days.
At the heart of the debate is an instruction from the Ministry of Justice that expanded the provisions of Law 20/2022 on Democratic Memory—commonly known as the "Grandchildren's Law"—by establishing a "generalized presumption of exile" for those who left Spain between July 18, 1936, and December 31, 1955, without requiring documentary proof of this status.
This expansion led to a surge in applications worldwide: as of June 2026, 2.5 million applications were submitted in total, with only 545,000 approved eight months after the deadline closed on October 22, 2025.
The judicial decision has immediate consequences for Cubans.
Cuba was one of the countries with the highest demand under this law: the General Consulate of Spain in Havana received over 107,000 applications until September 2025, and it is estimated that around 300,000 individuals on the island initiated procedures since the law came into effect in October 2022.
Political debate in Spain has intensified over whether the new voters registered in the CERA—many residing in Cuba, Argentina, and other Latin American countries—might skew the electoral outcome in favor of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government, a move the opposition denounced as electoral census manipulation.
The temporary suspension agreed upon this Tuesday freezes new registrations while the Supreme Court deliberates on the essence of the appeal, marking an unprecedented decision in the process stemming from the Democratic Memory Law.
As the court addresses the underlying issue, those who have already obtained Spanish nationality but are not yet listed in the CERA face uncertainty regarding their ability to vote in the upcoming elections.
Impact of the Supreme Court's Decision on Cuban Nationals
Why did Spain's Supreme Court suspend the 'Grandchildren's Law' census?
The Supreme Court suspended the census due to concerns that automatic registrations might irreversibly affect the outcome of upcoming elections, as argued by the appealing organizations.
How does this suspension impact Cubans?
Many Cubans who applied for Spanish citizenship under the 'Grandchildren's Law' now face uncertainty about their ability to vote in future elections, as new registrations have been halted.
What is the 'Grandchildren's Law'?
The 'Grandchildren's Law' is legislation that allows descendants of Spaniards who left Spain between 1936 and 1955 to apply for Spanish nationality, without needing documentary proof of exile.