“Inflating the electoral rolls is an attack on the Rule of Law and democracy. The Government is doing it. SOS democracy in Spain,” wrote Isabel Díaz Ayuso on social media yesterday after learning of the setback from the Supreme Court to the so-called grandchildren law of the Government. The Justice system has halted its registration in the electoral roll by accepting precautionary measures – presented by Iustitia Europa and Vox -, a decision that is celebrated in Sol as they understand this new regulation as one of the most “alarming” moves by the Government of Pedro Sánchez in recent times.
So much so that the Madrid president chose almost a year ago to assemble a team of experts, all of her utmost trust within the People’s Party of Madrid, to “monitor, analyze and prepare legal and political measures” in response to the implementation of the grandchildren law, whose activation could alter, according to her calculations, up to 10 seats in the Madrid Assembly. A small group of specialists, including legal technicians, electoral analysts, former diplomats, and data engineering experts, all coordinated by the secretary general of the popular Madrid party, Alfonso Serrano.
The team began meeting in December 2025, and approximately once a month they update their plan, from which Ayuso’s political and communication strategy regarding the grandchildren law originates. The regional president has been especially critical of this measure, even going a step further than Génova by speaking for months about the central Government’s intention to alter the roll and counteract the electoral decline of the PSOE throughout Spain with a “rigged election” through external voting.
A discourse with which the Madrid leader seeks, as in many other clashes with the central Government, to lead the opposition of the autonomous communities. The Supreme Court’s decision currently freezes the progress of the activation of this legislation, but in the Madrid PP’s engine room they do not plan to slow down the pace of work. In April, the territorial leadership of the popular party sent a letter to militants, poll watchers, and proxies urging not only to be alert to a possible early election due to the complex judicial and political scenario currently facing the PSOE, but also to ensure that all democratic guarantees are met in the next national ballot.
Read more The Supreme Court will urgently decide before the elections if 2.3 million ‘grandchildren’ can vote
Soon after, already in July, the Madrid president explicitly spoke of “rigged election” and extended warnings to the consulates, where she requested the urgent deployment of international observers. The working team, in this regard, has volunteers in countries where the Government is increasing embassy staff, especially during the regularization process carried out last spring, to oversee the procedure facilitating passports to half a million immigrants. “Every official who grants nationality to someone who does not deserve it would be doing something illegal,” the regional leader warned at that time.
Among the main analyses carried out by this group of specialists stands out the calculation that has led Ayuso to place Argentina as “the third province” in number of votes in the next elections: suddenly, the roll would go from 36,000 to 150,000 Spaniards in this country. They are also monitoring the CERA vote from the latest regional electoral processes in Spain: in Castilla y León it shot up 291% compared to 2022, and in Andalusia it rose 183.9% compared to the previous elections. In both territories, the external roll increased between 12% and 15% during the last legislature.
