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Spanish nationality grants. By reason for granting. Provinces

Spanish nationality grants. By reason for granting. Provinces 2015
Barcelona Girona Lleida Tarragona Catalonia Spain % Cat./Spa.
Total 10,341 2,127 1,447 1,415 15,330 78,000 19.7
Residence two years 4,756 654 384 345 6,139 41,675 14.7
Residence ten years 2,625 610 439 358 4,032 15,374 26.2
Births in Spain 2,272 727 548 645 4,192 14,572 28.8
Marriage to Spanish 596 89 65 51 801 5,779 13.9
Son grandson of Spanish 11 1 3 2 17 74 23.0
Other reasons 18 2 5 3 28 206 13.6
Not stated 63 44 3 11 121 320 37.8
Source: Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security.

Last update: July 13, 2016.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Nacionality
Legal bond that joins the person to the State and of which a series of rights and duties are derived.

Methodological aspects

The statistical of grants of the Spanish citizenship provide information regarding the number of foreign nationals who access Spanish citizenship by residence in Spain, in the conditions established in the Civil Code: by possession of state (Art. 18 CC), by adoption (Art. 19 CC), by choice (Art. 20 CC), with a naturalization card (Art. 21 CC) or by residence (Art. 22 CC).

This statistical includes only those cases of acquisition of citizenship by residence in Spain, this being the most common means for foreign nationals.

For the acquisition of the citizenship by residence it is necessary to have lived in Spain in a legal way, continued and immediately former to the request during a period of ten years, five, two or one, according to the cases:

  • Deu anys: general rule.
  • Five years: for the people who have been recognised as a refugee.
  • Two years: for those people originally from Latin America countries, Andorra, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal or of Sephardic origin.
  • One year: for those people who are in the following situations:
    • a) they have been born in Spanish territory;
    • b) they have not exercised appropriately the faculty of opting;
    • c) they have been subject legally to the protection, guardianship or tutelage of a citizen or Spanish institution for two consecutive years, even if they continue in this situation in the moment of the request;
    • d) it's been a year that they are married with Spaniard and are not separate legally or de facto in the moment of the request (it is understood that the spouse who lives with Spanish diplomatic officer or consular agent accredited abroad has legal residence in Spain);
    • e) they are widowers of Spaniard if in the death of spouse there is no legal or de facto separation;
    • f) they have been born out of Spain of father or mother, grandfather or grandmother who originally have been Spaniards.

Unavailable information is represented using the symbol ":". When the value is lower than that of the minimum unit to be able to estimate the statistical operation or if it effects statistical confidentiality, the symbol used is "..".