Feijóo accuses government of 'electoral engineering' through nationality law as Vox demands end to overseas postal voting

Feijóo's criticism and past support

Alberto Núñez Feijóo has intensified his attacks on the government's 'ley de nietos', part of the 2022 Democratic Memory Law, accusing it of being 'electoral engineering' designed to swell the voter rolls. He claimed the measure aims to add 2.5 million new voters, though official figures show only around 300,000 have been registered so far. Feijóo also warned that a separate mass regularisation of migrants could violate EU law, citing a Supreme Court decision that may refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU.

“What is behind it is an evident interest in getting new voters. As the sums don't add up with current voters, let's see if by manufacturing voters the sums add up.”

However, in November 2022 Feijóo himself advocated a specific 'ley de nietos' outside the ideological framework of the memory law, calling the recovery of nationality a 'civil right' and criticising its inclusion in a text signed by EH Bildu.

“The commitment we have is very clear: to make a specific law to recover the nationality of descendants of Spaniards. We believe it is a serious mistake to have included within an ideological law signed by Bildu a civil right such as the recovery of nationality.”

Left-wing parties push back

Left-wing formations have responded forcefully. Enrique Santiago of Izquierda Unida accused the PP of 'questioning the democratic system' and of 'fear that the Spanish people will not give them a majority'. He dismissed the Supreme Court's concerns, arguing that if the regularisation breached EU law, Brussels would have already taken legal action. David Cid of the Comuns labelled Feijóo's stance 'electoral flat-earthism' and accused the PP of spreading fake news.

“It's delirious, incredible. It's part of this totally crazed strategy of the PP to make people believe that any kind of electoral fraud can happen in Spain.”

Vox demands suspension of postal voting abroad

Vox went further, asking the Central Electoral Board to suspend postal voting for Spaniards registered in the CERA (Census of Absent Residents) and to require in-person voting at consulates. The party's parliamentary group secretary, José María Figaredo, described the nationality process as a 'slow-motion coup' and claimed the government was trying to secure 10 to 15 extra seats. He highlighted that CERA registrations grew 7.2% between 2020 and 2023, but 17.9% in the following three years.

“There are huge doubts about how the procedure is being carried out. If they manage to push this through, they could double the number of votes.”

Numbers and legal context

The CERA currently holds 2.7 million people, with applications from another 2.5 million, according to Vox. The party argues that postal voting from abroad lacks the identity checks required for domestic postal votes. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court's 24 June order acknowledged that the mass regularisation model could clash with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact adopted in 2024. The government and its allies maintain that the process is fully legal and that no EU institution has challenged it.

2020-20237.2%

2023-202617.9%

2020-2023

7.2 %

2023-2026

17.9 %

Data from the article text