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MADRID: Spain\u2019s \u200clower house voted on Thursday to grant citizenship to Sahrawis born when Madrid administered the North African territory of Western Sahara as a colony, a move that could inflame delicate relations with Morocco.<\/p>\n
The legislation, which a statement from parliament said was approved with 168 votes in favor, 31 against and 145 abstentions, would also allow descendants of those granted citizenship to acquire it.<\/p>\n
Some 70,000 to 110,000 Sahrawis could be eligible for Spanish citizenship, according \u200cto local media.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s \u200cruling Socialist Party and its junior \u200cleft-wing partner Sumar, which filed the initiative, were among those who supported the bill, while the opposition conservative People\u2019s Party abstained and far-right Vox voted against it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the adoption of this legislation, we are restoring \u2013 and I emphasise, restoring \u2013 the Spanish national identity card to those Sahrawis who once held it and from whom this state \u200ctook it away,\u201d said Tesh \u200cSidi of the leftist Sumar coalition, the first woman of Sahrawi \u200corigin to serve in parliament.<\/p>\n
Tensions with Morocco<\/strong><\/p>\n Tensions have \u200cgrown between Spain and Morocco following the mass arrival of at least 70,000 migrants in Spain\u2019s North African enclave of Ceuta in July.<\/p>\n Spain controlled Western Sahara under various administrative arrangements \u200cfrom 1884 until 1976. Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara and began asserting control over the territory after Spanish rule ended.<\/p>\n The Algerian-backed Polisario Front independence movement seeks recognition of an independent state called the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.<\/p>\n Many Sahrawis live in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, or elsewhere abroad, while others remain in Western Sahara. Spain had supported a referendum in the territory \u2014 in line with United Nations resolutions \u2014 until Sanchez\u2019s government reversed course in 2022 and backed Morocco\u2019s position. Tensions eased somewhat after that shift, with Madrid describing Rabat\u2019s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara as \u201cserious, credible and realistic\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n