Around the world, 200,000 passports have already been issued to the grandchildren of those who left Spain for political, economic, or work-related reasons.
Since the possibility of a new process for naturalization as Spanish citizens opened in October 2022 thanks to the new provisions contained in the Democratic Memory Law, known as the Grandchildren's Law, more than 300,000 Cubans have submitted their nationality applications to the Spanish Consulate in Havana.
Cuba is the nation with the second highest number of applications, surpassed only by Argentina, although the absolute comparison is misleading, as the South American nation has four times the population of the Caribbean island.
According to statements to the La Voz de Galicia website by Juan Manuel de Hoz, spokesperson for the Center for United Descendants of Spaniards (CeDEU), there are currently 650,000 registered consular users in Buenos Aires to process applications for Spanish nationality, around another 300,000 in Cuba, 70,000 in the Argentine embassy in Mendoza, and the same number in Rosario.
In these two nations alone, there are more than one million applications, in addition to those that may be added before the official deadline of October 21, 2025. Other nations with thousands of applications submitted include Venezuela, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
According to the interviewee's calculations, "the figures are impressive, and by the end of the process we will have between one and a half million and two million new Spaniards."
"It's a very generous law, comparable to that of Portugal and even broader than that of Italy," De Hoz stated.
However, the CeDEU is aware that Cubans face an added challenge in submitting applications that meet all the requirements. Cuba is not a signatory to The Hague Convention, and therefore the Spanish Consulate in Havana requires its own stamping for the required documentation.
On the other hand, it was learned that 200,000 passports have already been issued worldwide to the grandchildren of those who left Spain one day for political, economic, or work-related reasons.
Requirements for Spanish nationality under the Democratic Memory Law
The requirements for applying for Spanish nationality under the Law of Grandchildren and obtaining Spanish nationality vary by case, but in general, applicants must meet at least one of the following conditions:
- Be the grandchild of a Spaniard by origin who lost or renounced Spanish nationality for political, ideological, religious, or persecution reasons during exile.
- Be the child of a Spaniard who obtained Spanish nationality under the 2007 Historical Memory Law, but who was unable to obtain it at the time because they were of legal age when their parent acquired it.
- Be the adult child of Spaniards who acquired Spanish nationality by option under previous laws.
- Be the child of a Spanish-born woman who lost her nationality for marrying a foreigner before 1978.
Other key requirements
- Documentary evidence: Documents proving the family relationship with the Spanish-born person must be presented (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.).
- Deadline to apply: The law is valid for two years from its entry into force (until October 2024), with the possibility of extension.
- Consular processing: The application must be submitted at the Spanish consulates in the country of residence.
Source: Periodico Cubano