Spanish Citizenship Bill Reopens Western Sahara’s Colonial Question

The Spanish parliament’s approval of legislation granting citizenship to Sahrawis born under Spanish rule in Western Sahara has given fresh momentum to the Sahrawi struggle for self-determination and renewed international attention to Morocco’s colonisation of Western Sahara.

Beyond its immediate legal implications, the legislation has brought the Western Sahara question back to the broader framework in which Sahrawi advocates have long sought to place it: the unfinished process of decolonization in Africa.

A Potentially Significant Sahrawi Diaspora

The draft identifies approximately 110,000 Sahrawis as potential beneficiaries—those born during the period of Spanish administration before Spain withdrew from Western Sahara in 1975. Their children and grandchildren could also qualify, potentially expanding the number of beneficiaries considerably. Under the United Nations’ classification, Spain remains the administering power of the non-self-governing territory.

Such an expansion could eventually produce a sizable constituency of Spanish citizens with a direct interest in the future of Western Sahara. Through political participation, elected office, and organized advocacy, these citizens could develop into influential lobbying networks within Spain and, potentially, at European Union institutions in Brussels.

The development could prove particularly significant given Spain’s historical role in the territory and its continuing relevance to the diplomatic and legal debate surrounding Western Sahara.

A Challenge to the Moroccan Regime’s Population Figures

Although Morocco has expressed discontent with the decision, it has yet to issue an official position, reportedly owing to mounting pressure stemming from the controversy over its complicity in the influx of approximately 80,000 Moroccan irregular migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

Morocco has yet to articulate a fully developed official response to the Spanish initiative, although criticism has emerged from media and political circles aligned with the Moroccan authorities. Those critics have portrayed the legislation as inconsistent with the understanding reached between King Mohammed VI and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in March 2022, when Madrid shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara as the most viable basis for resolving the dispute.

According to a specialist analyst and former official at the Spanish Foreign Ministry who spoke to Echorouk, Spain’s identification of approximately 110,000 Sahrawis eligible for citizenship could undermine Rabat’s calculations concerning the territory’s population.

By setting that number of eligible Sahrawis—those born before Spain’s withdrawal from the territory in 1975—Madrid has dealt a serious blow to the Moroccan regime’s calculations regarding the population census, according to the same analyst, Rabat has sought to manipulate census figures for purposes that serve to entrench its occupation of Western Sahara.

The Referendum Dispute

Throughout the negotiations between the Moroccan regime and the Polisario Front, the legitimate and sole representative of the Sahrawi people, under United Nations auspices, Rabat has insisted on including hundreds of thousands of Moroccans who were encouraged by the late King Hassan II to take part in what became known as the “Green March,” the mass mobilization to seize Western Saharan territory. Morocco has sought to include these settlers in the referendum agreed upon by the two parties under UN supervision in 1991—a demand categorically rejected by the Polisario Front, which represents the Sahrawi independence movement, under United Nations auspices.

The analyst argued that the figure could have important implications for the long-standing dispute over demographic data, which has played a central role in discussions about voter eligibility in a possible referendum on self-determination.

The dispute dates back, in part, to Morocco’s insistence that the descendants of Moroccan participants in the 1975 Green March be included in any referendum on the territory’s future. The march, organized during the reign of the late King Hassan II, preceded Morocco’s assertion of control over much of Western Sahara following Spain’s withdrawal.

The United Nations-brokered settlement plan adopted in 1991 provided for a referendum on self-determination. However, disagreements over voter eligibility, including the inclusion of Moroccan settlers and their descendants, contributed to the failure to hold the vote.

The retired diplomat explained that the legislation granting Spanish citizenship to Sahrawis born before the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara therefore could help establish the actual number of Sahrawis who lived in the territory before the Moroccan invasion and present a clearer historical picture of the Sahrawi population before Morocco’s occupation. In his assessment, this could also challenge the Moroccan regime’s manipulation of demographic figures to complicate efforts to consolidate its position in the territory. This could also put its ambitions concerning those figures under scrutiny—at a time when Rabat believed Spain had placed all its bets on Morocco following Madrid’s shift in its position on the Sahrawi question.

The development also comes as Morocco continues to benefit from Madrid’s 2022 policy shift, which many observers interpreted as a significant diplomatic gain for Rabat.

European Citizenship and Political Influence

The potential naturalization of Sahrawis and their descendants could have consequences extending beyond Spain’s domestic political arena. The move to grant Spanish citizenship to hundreds of thousands of Sahrawis—110,000 eligible individuals, in addition to their children and grandchildren—poses a major challenge to Moroccan influence over Spanish authorities, the same source added.

As Spanish citizens, eligible Sahrawis would acquire the rights associated with European Union citizenship, including the ability to participate in political life and engage with European institutions in accordance with applicable law. As elected representatives within Spanish institutions, these new citizens could form powerful lobbying groups and pressure networks.

Over time, Sahrawi citizens could seek elected office, establish advocacy organizations, and mobilize support within Spain and across the European Union. Such efforts could provide new channels for advancing demands for self-determination and challenging Morocco’s control over Western Sahara. Their influence could also extend by virtue of their European citizenship. Ultimately, this would advance their central cause: ending colonial rule and removing the Moroccan occupying power from their homeland.
For Rabat, this prospect could represent a significant test of its influence within Spanish and some European political and institutional circles.

Spain’s Continuing Legal Responsibility

The legislation has also revived debate over Spain’s legal status in relation to Western Sahara. The Spanish parliament’s adoption of the Sahrawi naturalization law has brought renewed attention to Spain’s status as the administering power of Western Sahara, as set out in a United Nations legal opinion that did not recognize any transfer of sovereignty to the Moroccan regime. This was highlighted in a Facebook post published on Saturday, September 12, by former ambassador Amar Belani, who cited the UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell’s opinion of January 29, 2002.

More significantly, Belani added, the new Spanish legislation effectively brings Spain’s colonial past back into the country’s political debate—a dimension that the Moroccan regime has sought to sideline by promoting a narrative that portrays the Western Sahara issue primarily as an internal dispute between the Moroccan monarchy and the Sahrawi people. This narrative runs counter to the position of the international community, with the exception of certain traditional colonial powers.
The legislation could mark an important step toward strengthening the Sahrawis political voice in Spain and across the European Union. More broadly, it has brought renewed attention to their demand for self-determination, the suffering endured by the Sahrawi people over decades, and the unresolved question of decolonization—an issue that remains central not only to the future of the territory but also to the stability, security, and prosperity of the wider Maghreb and Mediterranean region.