Spanish Citizenship based on Historical Memory Law

[Carlos]

The past December 12 2007 the Spanish Senate approved the text of the Historical Memory Law, but with a very important modification.

This law, like all others, is effective when is published in BOE (Boletín Oficial del Estado), and just yesterday, December 27, the text appears in this Bulletin. So today the law works for 2 years.

The first objective is to repair the negative effects produced by the victory of General Franco against Republicans when the Spanish Civil War was fougth, but this law has an important subsequent effect relative to the ability to obtain Spanish Citizenship for those which are of Spanish-Asturian ancestors.

The introduction of the Law (Exposición de Motivos, page 2 of the text) says:

La presente ley amplía la posibilidad de adquisición
de la nacionalidad española a los descendientes hasta el
primer grado de quienes hubiesen sido originariamente
españoles. Con ello se satisface una legítima pretensión
de la emigración española, que incluye singularmente a
los descendientes de quienes perdieron la nacionalidad
española por el exilio a consecuencia de la Guerra Civil o
la Dictadura.

It is to say:

The present law enlarge the possibility of acquisition of Spanish Citizenship to the descendants untill the first degree from those wich were Spanish in origin. With this it is resolved a legitime pretension of Spanish emigrants, that includes specially the descendants of those wich lost the Spanish Citizenship due to the exile as a consequence of the Civil War or the Dictatorship

The concrete article is the "Additional Disposition Seventh" (page 6):

Disposición adicional séptima. Adquisición de la nacionalidad
española.

1. Las personas cuyo padre o madre hubiese sido
originariamente español podrán optar a la nacionalidad
española de origen si formalizan su declaración en el
plazo de dos años desde la entrada en vigor de la presente
Disposición adicional. Dicho plazo podrá ser prorrogado
por acuerdo de Consejo de Ministros hasta el límite
de un año.

2. Este derecho también se reconocerá a los nietos
de quienes perdieron o tuvieron que renunciar a la nacionalidad
española como consecuencia del exilio.

Additional Disposition Seventh. Acquisition of the Spanish Citizenship.

1. The people whose father or mother were Spanish in origin could obtain the Spanish Citizenship from Origin (Native Spanish Citizenship) if they formalise its declaration in a lapse of two years from the going into effect date of this Additional Disposition. This lapse could be prolongued by agreement of the Ministers' Counsil (Government) for an additional year.

2. This Civil Right will be also acknowledged to the grandchildren of those wich lost or were obligued to waive the Spanish Citizenship as a consequence of exile.

It is to say, if the father or mother of, for example, Art or Bob are declared Native Spanish Citizen (ciudadanos españoles de origen), nor Art nor Bob are obligued to have a legal one year residence in Spain, and they can claim for Spanish Citizenship without any date top, over all its life, ever under the condition of previous Spanish Citizenship of its parents. Or at least this is the way I interprete the law.

Regards



Sources:

Spanish Senate:
http://www.senado.es/legis8/expedientes ... 00133.html

BOE (Official State Bulletin) number 310, December 27 2007:

http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2007/12/27/p ... -53416.pdf

[Art]

Gracias, Carlos, me interesa ver la versión final de la ley.

2. Este derecho también se reconocerá a los nietos de quienes perdieron o tuvieron que renunciar a la nacionalidad española como consecuencia del exilio.

Esa camino express a la ciudadanía sería fantástico. ¿Pero me pregunto si ése crearía un problema para los quienes abuelos emigraron antes de la guerra?

-----------------

Thanks, Carlos, it's good to see this law's final form.

2. This law will also recognize the grandchildren of those who lost or had to renounce their Spanish nationality as a consequence of exile.

This "fast track" to citizenship sounds great, but I wonder if that would create a problem for those whose grandparents came before the war?