Madrid/It only takes a moment in the always long queue at the doors of the Spanish Consulate in Havana, next to the Velasco Palace, to realize the interest of Cubans in the upcoming elections in the European country, whether they are nationalized or not, or whether or not they are in the process of becoming Spanish due to the controversy. Democratic Memory Law (LMD). “What does it matter to me that there are elections in Spain, what matters to me is that there is electricity in my house,” is one of the comments that reflects the dominant trend.
And this, whenever the question is asked about the topic. If not, no one will mention it. As expressed by a Havana resident who came on Friday to deliver some documents for a granddaughter’s student visa, “people’s urgency is to get the paperwork done as soon as possible to get out of here.”
That a large part of the Cubans who took advantage of the LMD have left the Island is, precisely, one of the reasons why they are the least affected by the precautionary suspension by the Spanish Supreme Court of the right to vote and of registrations in the Electoral Census of Absent Residents (Cera) of those recently nationalized by that rule, despite being the second country, behind Argentina, in number of applicants.
Between September 2025 and the same month of 2026, data from the Central Electoral Board indicate, Cera fell by 1,800 registered on the Island
The electoral roll of Spaniards living on the Island is, in fact, the only one that has decreased in the last year among the main countries impacted by the LMD, according to a note published this Sunday in The Debate. These new Spaniards, provided that they already appear on the current electoral roll, will be able to vote in the general elections on November 29, since the suspension of the Supreme Court does not affect naturalized citizens registered in Spain.
Between September 2025 and the same month of 2026, data from the Central Electoral Board indicate, Cera fell by 1,800 registered on the Island, compared to what happened for example in Argentina, where it rose by almost 40,000, or Mexico and the United States, which increased by more than 15,000 each.
At the same time, those born in Cuba with a Spanish passport who reside in the European country have increased significantly. Although the National Institute of Statistics (INE) does not distinguish the origin of obtaining nationality, it does confirm that the number of arrivals of Cubans to Spain with a Spanish passport since the approval of the LMD, in October 2022, is higher than in previous years.
According to the latest available data, of the 38,179 Cubans who emigrated to Spain in 2024, 40% already arrived with Spanish nationality, ten points more than the average for the previous decade.
This circumstance has coexisted with the largest exodus experienced by the Island since the imposition of Castroism and the tightening of immigration measures by the United States from the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term, in January 2025, which has turned Spain into one of the main options for Cubans to emigrate.
If in 2021 Cuba ranked 13th among the most frequent countries of origin in Spain, four years later it was already in ninth position
The census numbers prove it, as you also remember The Debate. The year before the approval of the LMD, in 2021, Cubans in Spain were 166,076, while in 2025 – the latest data available – there were 252,290, 52% more. “Since the law on grandchildren, an average of 34,000 Cubans have arrived in Spain per year, while in the last decade the average arrivals were 10,000 per year,” that newspaper also states.
And he adds more: “The increase in Cubans in Spain is above the general growth in immigration this decade.” If in 2021 Cuba ranked 13th among the most frequent countries of origin in Spain, four years later it was already in ninth position. Of them, 63% have Spanish nationality and, therefore, the right to vote, regardless of whether their nationalization has been through the law on grandchildren or not.
The Democratic Memory Law is involved in enormous controversy in Spain. Approved in Congress and published on October 19, 2022, the norm aimed to expand the Historical Memory Law of 2007 and serve as reparation to the descendants of the Spaniards exiled by the Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
Therefore, initially, to be able to apply for Spanish nationality under this rule, it was necessary to prove the status of exile of the father or grandfather. All citizens who left Spain between July 18, 1936 (starting date of the Civil War) and December 31, 1955 were considered exiles and only needed to prove their departure through a border point. On the other hand, for those who left between January 1, 1956 and December 28, 1978, they would have to prove it with additional documentation, for example from an official refugee agency or a recognized exile organization. This is how it appeared, in fact, in a instruction issued by the Ministry of Justice Spanish the day after the law was published, signed by Sofía Puente, General Director of Legal Security and sister of the current Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente.
Another instruction signed by the same senior official and published on October 26, 2022 in the Official State Gazette completely changed the original spirit of the law.
However, another instruction signed by the same senior official and published on October 26, 2022 in the Official State Gazette It completely changed the original spirit of the law, and established that “both those born outside Spain to parents or grandparents who were originally Spanish, and those born outside Spain to parents or grandparents who lost Spanish nationality or renounced it due to exile, may exercise the option provided for in this paragraph.” That is, it was no longer necessary to prove that the family member was exiled, but it was enough to show a birth or baptism certificate that confirmed the link with Spain.
This change made the volume of applications enormous and reached, in total, almost 2,500,000, of which, according to sources from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 and a half, more than 600,000 were Cubans.
The Supreme Court’s decision aims to recover the original spirit of the LMD and responds to a complaint filed by the Iustitia Europa and Vox parties, according to which the Government unduly expanded access to nationality through the Democratic Memory Law and therefore irregularities are occurring in the electoral roll of Spaniards residing abroad. The high court heard the request and provisionally suspended the right to vote and registrations in the census of Spaniards abroad, until the consulates prove that those naturalized meet the condition of being descendants of Spanish exiles.
The Government of Pedro Sánchez has warned that this is nothing short of impossible. It does not allude at any time to the murky instruction following the law, thanks to which applicants were never asked to prove that they were children or grandchildren of exiles. The problem only affects –according to Government data– 163,020 people, but it is not minor. They are already Spanish citizens, something difficult to reverse.
In the queue at the Consulate in Havana, no one is interested in the controversy that is shaking Spain regarding the participation of LMD beneficiaries in the November 29 elections. Almost everyone’s goal is limited to picking up their new passport and buying a plane ticket to leave as soon as possible.
