Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is facing allegations of attempting to buy votes ahead of general elections by expanding state welfare subsidies and citizenship grants.
Writing in an opinion column published on August 21, 2026, Luis María Anson, a prominent journalist and member of the Royal Spanish Academy, accused Sánchez of striving to influence several million new Spaniards to alter upcoming electoral results.
Anson compared the scale of the financial distribution to the actions of Aureliano Romero Robledo, a 19th-century Spanish politician famed for widespread election manipulation during Spain's Restoration era.
Financial subsidies reaching millions
According to a report published by Miguel Puga and cited by Anson, state welfare payments reached record numbers during the month of July. A total of 879,225 families received payments through the Minimum Vital Income program, benefiting 2,682,646 people across the country.
Anson noted that critics consider the subsidised income scheme a shameless invention created with the sole intention of purchasing votes ahead of the general election. The Minimum Vital Income is a national social assistance program designed to prevent poverty and social exclusion in Spain.
Additional welfare programs also distributed payments to hundreds of thousands of recipients in the same period. Statistics cited in the report show that 164,546 individuals received non-contributory disability pensions, while 304,854 people received non-contributory retirement pensions. Furthermore, around 500,000 individuals received the Minimum Insertion Income.
Citizenship expansion for overseas descendants
Beyond domestic welfare payments, Anson highlighted the government's granting of Spanish nationality to regularised immigrants and overseas descendants. The measures apply to children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren of Republican exiles who left Spain in 1939 following the end of the Spanish Civil War.
The total number of people receiving nationality under these provisions approaches and may exceed two million individuals. Spanish consulates across several American nations are reportedly overwhelmed by the high volume of incoming citizenship applications.
Anson wrote that Sánchez and his political allies are welcoming the influx of new voters as they seek to retain power.
Opposition reactions and election polling
Addressing the opposition's response, Anson stated he was assured that Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative People's Party, has reacted to the government's electoral strategy, although Anson acknowledged he was unable to independently verify this information.
Pedro Sánchez leads the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and operates from the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, the official residence of the Spanish prime minister. Anson observed that Sánchez is fighting desperately to remain in office rather than face legal accountability.
Legal remedies against the welfare distributions and citizenship grants remain unlikely to succeed. The Spanish Constitution explicitly guarantees that the grant of nationality carries an indisputable right to vote, and the financial subsidies distributing funds to hundreds of thousands of people are fully compliant with existing law.
Despite the government's social spending, political polling shows significant headwinds for the ruling party. Scientifically conducted polls indicate that the combined total for the People's Party and the right-wing Vox party exceeds 200 parliamentary seats, well above the 176 needed for a majority, while reducing the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party to around 100 seats.
Anson concluded that while Sánchez continues to utilise constitutional avenues to expand his voter base, the outcome of next year's elections remains uncertain, prompting observers to advise Feijóo to maintain cautious optimism.
