Cuba in second place. More than 2 million new Spaniards thanks to the Grandchildren Law: the number of citizens abroad will exceed 5 million. The Democratic Memory Law, popularly known as the Grandchildren Law, closed its application period with historic figures: around 2,3 million people have applied for Spanish nationality.
With this new process, the total number of Spaniards residing abroad will exceed 5 million, according to confirmed Violeta Alonso, president of the General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad (CGCEE), and Elena Bernardo, director general of Spanish Citizenship Abroad and Return Policies.
During the IV World Congress of Asturian Culture, Alonso highlighted that between 1% and 2% of applications were rejected, which implies a very high approval rate.
Most of the The cases are concentrated in Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico.Venezuela and Brazil, with Buenos Aires as the consulate that has received the most requests: about 600.000.
This phenomenon represents an unprecedented expansion of Spanish citizenship, which will increase Spain's presence and influence in Latin America and in communities with a strong migratory heritage.
However, the enormous volume of applications is causing concern.cupThe issue is the processing times, as many consulates lack sufficient staff. Alonso warned that some cases could take "many years" to be resolved.
Faced with this challenge, the CGCEE proposes cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice so that civil registries in Spain can help process cases and avoid consular overload.
The creation of new consular offices and an overseas electoral district to directly represent Spaniards residing outside the country is also being studied.
Furthermore, the Council is promoting a reform of the Civil Code to eliminate gender discrimination in the transmission of nationality and to allow the great-grandchildren of Spanish women to access citizenship on equal terms.
With the closing of the deadline, the Grandchildren Law is consolidated as one of the greatest policies of historical restitution and citizen expansion in the recent history of Spain, and opens a new stage for millions of descendants who can now be considered, officially, Spanish.