Elections in Spain and the Democratic Memory Act: what could happen?

On Sunday, July 23, general elections take place in Spain and thousands of Cubans are closely following what is happening, due to the possible “destination” of the Democratic Memory Act and its assumptions of obtaining Spanish citizenship.

As announced, about 250,000 Cubans can apply for Spanish citizenship under the LMD, whose appointments opened in November 2022 at the Consulate General in Havana. The main candidates for the presidency of the Republic have referred to this criterion in their electoral programs.

The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) program, for example, promises that during the next legislature they will “fully develop the law of democratic memory”.

“We will continue to expand the recognition of Spanish nationality to their descendants abroad, under the Democratic Memory Act,” states the more than 200-page text.

It also ensures “the provision of greater material and human resources for consular offices.”

The current head of government, Pedro Sánchez, also indicated in the program that he would promote “the approval of the nationality law that regulates the citizenship rights of Spanish men and women abroad.”

In this sense, I will support Proposal or offer Council of Spanish Residents Abroad – CRE to eliminate “discrimination between native and non-parent Spaniards”.

Elections in Spain: The Law of Democratic Memory

For his part, the candidate for the presidency of Spain, the head of the right-wing Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Viejo, assured that “the Hispanic community will retain the right to the option of Spanish citizenship.”

Let’s remember that the leader of the People’s Party has already promised to cancel the Democratic Memory Law, and in his program he talks about an “amended law for obtaining citizenship for descendants”, without giving further details.

They have immigration experts recommended Submit the papers as soon as possible. If the law is repealed, they make it clear that “files submitted up to the date of its repeal are not in danger of being archived or not accepted because the law is no longer in effect, but from that moment on no new applications may be made.”