Over a million descendants of Spaniards have applied for citizenship, overwhelming consulates

"More than one million descendants of Spanish exiles or emigrants have already applied for citizenship under the Democratic Memory Law through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' consular network, while another 1.3 million have requested appointments to submit their documentation but have not yet been able to do so due to bureaucratic delays. Of the one million applications initiated, approximately half have already been processed and citizenship granted, although many are still awaiting formal registration,"

"Sources familiar with the process estimate that, at the current rate, some descendants of Spaniards will have to wait decades to see their citizenship granted, and the oldest among them could die without ever seeing it happen. The eighth additional provision of the Democratic Memory Law granted a two-year period, extendable to three, for all those born outside of Spain to a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, who were originally Spanish"

More than one million descendants of Spanish exiles or emigrants have applied for citizenship under the Democratic Memory Law through the consular network, while 1.3 million others have requested appointments but cannot yet submit documentation due to bureaucratic delays. About half of the applications initiated have been processed and citizenship granted; many remain awaiting formal registration. Rejections account for under 2% of applications. The General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad reports the surge and calls for additional resources to prevent consular offices from being overwhelmed. The law allows a two-year, extendable to three, period for descendants born abroad to reclaim nationality.

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