Spain's Congress has approved a bill that would create a special route to Spanish citizenship for Sahrawis born in Western Sahara during the period of Spanish occupation. The bill passed by 168 votes to 31, with 145 abstentions. It must still go through the Senate before becoming law.
The proposed law would allow people born in Western Sahara before September 29, 1977, to apply for Spanish nationality through a special procedure without meeting normal residency requirements. First-degree descendants would also be covered. For eligible Sahrawis legally living in Spain, the residence requirement would be shortened from 10 years to two.
Supporters describe the measure as addressing a historical injustice. Spain was the colonial power in Western Sahara until it ended its administration in 1976. The territory has remained disputed, with Morocco considering it part of its sovereignty while the separatist Polisario Front seeks independence.
Reuters has reported that between 70,000 and 110,000 people could eventually qualify. Anyone obtaining Spanish nationality would also become an EU citizen. For Morocco, this could mean a larger community of Spanish and EU citizens with personal or family ties to Western Sahara.
The bill comes after a significant change in Spain's policy. In 2022, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government backed Morocco's autonomy proposal for the territory. That decision helped repair relations between Madrid and Rabat. The new citizenship measure does not formally change Spain's support for the autonomy proposal, but the two issues are difficult to separate from Morocco's perspective.
The bill has divided Spain's political parties. The governing Socialist Party and its allies supported it, the conservative People's Party abstained, and Vox voted against. The disagreement has centered partly on how Spain should address the legacy of its former rule in Western Sahara and on the legal route proposed for granting nationality.
The issue is particularly sensitive for Morocco because of Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco considers the two cities an integral part of its territory and sovereignty, while Spain rejects that claim. If Spain can draw on its historical and colonial relationship with Western Sahara to create a special nationality route, Morocco could ask why its own historical and geographical relationship with Ceuta and Melilla should be considered irrelevant.
In territorial terms, the citizenship measure would not change who controls Western Sahara, determine its final status, or alter the UN-led political process. Its significance lies mainly in the relationship between Spain and Morocco. The measure brings Spain's colonial history in Western Sahara into a broader domestic political debate, raising questions about how that history should be addressed and what its growing political significance could mean for the delicate relationship between Madrid and Rabat.
Source: www.aljazeera.com