Madrid, June 3 (EFE) general elections on July 23.
The entry into force of the law at the end of October 2022 triggered an avalanche of nationality requests in Spanish consulates around the world, which has led to the approval of 26,477 files until March 31, 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. .
Known abroad as the “grandchildren’s law”, the law grants Spanish nationality to those who had a father, mother, grandfather or grandmother who was Spanish but ceased to be so when they went into exile for political, ideological, religious or sexual identity reasons.
Many have already had the opportunity to vote in the regional elections of 28-M; many others will be able to do so for the first time in the general elections on 23-J. In order for them to have full effect, the newly nationalized must register in the Civil Registry, a procedure with which the process is closed and the new Spaniards may be included in the electoral roll.
barrage of requests
The wave of applications put the consulates in trouble, as acknowledged by the Foreign Minister himself, José Manuel Albares, who requested the hiring of up to 600 people to reinforce the workforce to meet the demands of those interested in carrying out this procedure.
To further facilitate the procedures, the Government approved last May the urgent processing of a royal decree on the granting of Spanish nationality by naturalization letter (a faster procedure) to the volunteer members of the International Brigades, who participated in the war from 1936 to 1939.
The same criteria will also be applied to the children and grandchildren of brigade members “who prove a continuous effort to disseminate the memory of their ancestors and the defense of democracy in Spain.”
These new Spaniards are added to the 47,712 new registered in the Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad (PERE) as of January 1, 2023, almost 20% of whom are over 65 years of age.
More than half live in America
59% of the new enrollees had established their residence in America, the majority in the United States and Mexico; 37.7% in Europe, mainly in France, and 3.6% in the rest of the world.
The PERE data also show that almost 6 out of 10 of the new enrollees were born in the country where they habitually reside, compared to 3 out of 10 who were born in Spain.
All of them will be able to vote in the next general elections as long as they are included in the Census of Spaniards Resident Abroad (CERA) managed by the consulates and in which they can register or rectify their data between July 5 and 12.