Skip to main content

Relationship between Spanish nationality acquisition of residents and Granting of Spanish nationality

Legislation

The Spanish Civil Code (Royal Decree of 24th July 1889) regulates nationality under Articles 17 to 28 of Title I "On Spaniards and Foreign Nationals" of Book I, "On Persons".

The Spanish Civil Code regulates Spanish nationality by birth right (Article 17) and the Spanish nationality acquisition by means of status possession (Article 18), adoption (Article 19), option (Article 20), decree of naturalisation (Article 21) or residence (Article 22).

Article 17:

  1. The following persons are Spaniards by birth right:

    1. Those born of a Spanish mother or father.
    2. Those born in Spain of foreign parents if at least one of them has also been born in Spain. The children of a diplomatic or consular official accredited in Spain shall be excepted from this provision.
    3. Those born in Spain of foreign parents if both of them are stateless or if the legislation of neither were to grant a nationality to the child.
    4. Those born in Spain of uncertain filiation. For these purposes, minors whose first known place of stay is in Spanish territory shall be presumed born within Spanish territory.
  2. Filiation or birth in Spain determined after the person is eighteen shall not by itself constitute a basis to acquire Spanish nationality. The interested party shall then be entitled to opt for Spanish nationality by birth right within two years counting from such determination.

Article 18:

The bona fide possession and continued use of Spanish nationality for ten years, based on a title recorded at the Civil Registry shall constitute grounds for the consolidation of Spanish nationality, even if the title which originated such nationality were to be annulled.

Article 19:

  1. A foreign national younger than eighteen adopted by a Spaniard shall acquire Spanish nationality by birth right as of the adoption.
  2. If the adoptee were to be older than eighteen, he may opt for Spanish nationality by birth right within two years following the adoption.
  3. Without prejudice to the provisions of Section 1, if, pursuant to the legal system of the country of birth, the adopted minor retains his nationality, it shall also be recognised in Spain.

Article 20 (Section 1):

  1. The following persons shall be entitled to opt for Spanish nationality:

    1. Those who are or have been subject to the parental authority of a Spaniard.
    2. Those whose father or mother was originally Spanish and born in Spain.
    3. Those concerned by the Section 2 of Articles 17 and 19.

Article 21 (Sections 1 and 2):

  1. Spanish nationality shall be acquired by decree of naturalisation, granted discretionally by Royal Decree, when exceptional circumstances concur in the interested party.
  2. Spanish nationality shall also be acquired by residence in Spain, in the conditions provided in the following Article, and shall be granted by the Minister of Justice, who may refuse it on reasoned grounds of public order or national interest.

Article 22 (Sections 1 and 2):

  1. Granting of nationality pursuant to residence shall require ten years' residence. Five years shall be sufficient for persons who have obtained asylum or refugees, and two years for citizens by birth right of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal, or for Sephardic Jews.

  2. One year's residence shall be sufficient for:

    1. A person born within Spanish territory.
    2. A person who has not exercised his option right in due time.
    3. A person who has been legally subject to guardianship, custody or care by a Spanish citizen or institution for two consecutive years, even if such situation persists at the time of the application.
    4. A person who, at the time of the application, has been married to a Spaniard for one year and is not separated de iure or de facto.
    5. A widow or widower of a Spaniard if, upon the death of the spouse he were not separated de iure or de facto.
    6. A person born outside of Spain from a father or mother who were originally Spanish.

Statistics on acquisition of Spanish nationality

The statistics Spanish Nationality Acquisition of Residents provide the number of persons with habitual residence in Catalonia who acquired Spanish nationality in the reference year and who previously held the nationality of another country or were stateless.

These statistics are compiled through the statistical processing of nationality case records from the Civil Registry, carried out by the INE since 2013.

The statistics consider only processes involving a change of nationality, concerning persons habitually resident in Spain. They include acquisitions by option (Article 20 of the Civil Code), by decree of naturalisation (Article 21) and by residence (Article 22).

They therefore exclude acquisitions of Spanish nationality by birth right, since these do not involve a change of nationality (Article 17). They also exclude naturalisations by status possession, since these likewise do not entail a change of nationality, as this applies precisely to persons who already act as Spanish nationals (Article 18).

Data are provided for Catalonia and its provinces from 2013 onwards.

Statistics on granting of Spanish nationality

The statistics Granting of Spanish Nationality provide the number of foreign nationals in Catalonia who are granted Spanish nationality by residence, under the conditions set out in the Civil Code (Article 22). Spanish nationality acquisition by residence is the most common mode for foreign nationals.

These statistics are obtained from an administrative register managed by the Directorate-General for Registries and the Notary of the Ministry of Justice. The statistical processing is carried out by the Permanent Immigration Observatory, under the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

Data are provided for Catalonia and its provinces from 2002 onwards.

Relationship between the statistics on acquisition of Spanish nationality and on granting of Spanish nationality

The main differences between these two statistics are as follows.

Target population:

The statistics Spanish Nationality Acquisition of Residents include the acquisition of Spanish nationality by option (Article 20 of the Civil Code), by naturalisation (Article 21) and by residence (Article 22). By contrast, the statistics Granting of Spanish Nationality only include acquisition by residence (Article 22).

Reference period:

The granting of Spanish nationality by the Ministry of Justice is a procedure prior to the effective acquisition of nationality, which subsequently takes place upon registration in the Civil Register.

The data on granting of Spanish nationality refer to grants decided by the Ministry of Justice in the reference year, irrespective of the date of registration in the Civil Register.

In the statistics on acquisition of Spanish Nationality, the reference period is the registration in the Civil Register, which is subsequent to the granting of nationality.

The different reference periods account for the time lag between the figures for the two statistics.

Data sources:

The statistics Spanish Nationality Acquisition of Residents are based on the statistical processing of registrations of nationality cases in the Civil Register. The statistics Granting of Spanish Nationality are obtained from an administrative register managed by the Directorate-General for Registers and Notaries of the Ministry of Justice.