Spain’s Parliament backs citizenship for Western Saharans born before 1977

After lower house approval, the bill to grant tens of thousands of Sahrawis Citizenship now goes to the Spanish Senate.Spanish lawmakers have backed legislation that would grant Citizenship to tens of thousands of Western Saharans who were born when Spain ran the disputed territory now largely controlled by Morocco.Spain’s lower house of Parliament on Thursday approved the legislation 168-31, with 145 abstentions.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Thousands protest in Spain as Ceuta’s migration crisis festers a month onlist 2 of 3Morocco’s ruling allies turn on each other before election campaign beginslist 3 of 3Spain’s spy agency warned of mass crossings into Ceuta before border crisisend of listThe bill still requires Senate approval before becoming law.The text grants Spanish nationality to Sahrawis born before September 29, 1977 and to their children through naturalisation, even if they never resided in Spain.Although the exact number of beneficiaries is unknown, Sahrawi groups estimate that between 70,000 and 120,000 people could benefit from the legislation, which supporters described as addressing a “historical injustice” by colonial Spain in the Western Sahara.Tensions with MoroccoThe vote comes at a particularly sensitive time for Madrid’s historically delicate relations with Rabat due to the migration crisis in Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, and the mass arrival of at least 70,000 migrants from Morocco in July.Spain’s leftist government has avoided blaming Morocco – which does not recognise Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Spain’s other North African territory of Melilla – but the right accuses Rabat of orchestrating the surge for political motives.Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara and began asserting control over the territory after Spanish ⁠rule ended.The Algerian-backed Polisario Front independence movement seeks recognition ⁠of an independent state called the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.