Spain’s Parliament backs citizenship for Western Saharans born before 1977

After lower house approval, the bill to grant tens of thousands of Sahrawis citizenship now goes to the Spanish Senate.Published On 10 Sep 202610 Sep 2026Spanish lawmakers have backed legislation that would grant citizenship to tens of thousands of Western Saharans who were born when Spain ran the disputed territory now largely controlled by Morocco.Spain’s lower house of Parliament on Thursday approved the legislation 168-31, with 145 abstentions.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Thousands protest in Spain as Ceuta’s migration crisis festers a month onlist 2 of 3Morocco’s ruling allies turn on each other before election campaign beginslist 3 of 3Spain’s spy agency warned of mass crossings into Ceuta before border crisisend of listThe bill still requires Senate approval before becoming law.The text grants Spanish nationality to Sahrawis born before September 29, 1977 and to their children through naturalisation, even if they never resided in Spain.Although the exact number of beneficiaries is unknown, Sahrawi groups estimate that between 70,000 and 120,000 people could benefit from the legislation, which supporters described as addressing a “historical injustice” by col...