Why Spain’s new Sahrawi citizenship law matters to Morocco

Spain’s lower house has backed a bill establishing a special nationality route for people born in Western Sahara while it was under Spanish administration, and for their immediate descendants. Under the proposed procedure, applicants born before September 29, 1977, would be able to seek Spanish nationality without fulfilling the usual long residency conditions; Sahrawis already legally residing in Spain would need two years’ residence rather than the standard ten. The measure now faces consideration in the Senate before it can become law. The proposal is framed by supporters as a corrective step addressing legal and humanitarian complications that followed Spain’s withdrawal from the territory in 1976. It does not, however, alter Spain’s official position on the sovereignty of Western Sahara, nor does it recognise an independent Sahrawi state or the Polisario Front. Nationality would be a legal status for individuals and would not confer any territorial claims over Western Sahara. Rabat is watching the bill closely because it could increase the number of Spanish and European Union citizens who have personal or family ties to a territory Morocco regards as part of its sovereignty. Reuters has estimated that between about 70,000 and 110,000 people might qualify, including Sahrawis living in the territory and members of refugee communities around Tindouf in Algeria where the Polisario Front is based. For Morocco, a larger diaspora of Spanish/EU citizens linked to Western Sahara could affect bilateral politics and public opinion on the dispute. The timing and domestic politics add sensitivity. In 2022 Spain signalled support for Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the most realistic framework for resolving the conflict, a shift that helped mend relations after a diplomatic rupture and fostered cooperation on migration, security and trade. Inside Spain the bill has split parties: the governing Socialist Party and its Sumar allies backed it, the conservative People’s Party abstained, and Vox opposed it. The debate taps into broader questions about how Madrid should address its colonial past — a theme that previously underpinned the 2015 nationality path offered to Sephardic Jews — and how that history intersects with current foreign-policy priorities. The measure also touches on wider regional sensitivities, notably Morocco’s longstanding claims to Spanish-held enclaves such as Ceuta and Melilla. While Madrid rejects those claims, any policy linked to Western Sahara tends to resonate beyond the territory itself and can influence the broader Spain–Morocco relationship.