Following the deadline for Spanish citizenship applications via the so-called ‘Grandchildren’s Law’, Spain’s consulates around the world are struggling to process the flood in applications.
Spanish consulates around the world are struggling to process a flood of citizenship applications via the Grandchildren’s Law, new Ministry of Foreign Affairs figures have revealed.
Over half a million people are still awaiting their final decision, despite the application window closing in October 2025. Government sources suggest that “enormous efforts” have been made to increase consular staff numbers abroad.
Citizenship applications via the Law of Democratic Memory (referred to as La Ley de Nietos or Grandchildren’s Law in English) have been in force since October 2022.
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The initial window for this citizenship route was previously scheduled to end in October 2024 but extended by a year due to the sheer number of applications.
The scheme offered a way for millions around the world who qualified via descendants of Spaniards who fled Spain during the Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship.
The backlog is still being processed by Spanish consulates. In total, more than a million people (1,170,999) have exercised this right to citizenship via descent since 2021, of whom more than half (632,670) are still awaiting a decision.
Only 25 percent of all applications have, to date, been finally registered.
This is according to figures from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seen by Spanish outlet El Diario via a freedom of information request. The data lays bare the inability of Spanish consulates abroad to handle the sheer volume of applications following the deadline.
Argentina, Cuba, Brazil and Mexico account for the highest number of applications and also the highest number of registrations. These four countries alone account for 72 percent of those who have applied for citizenship via the Grandchildren’s Law.
At the top of the list is Argentina, where 462,815 applications have been registered across Spain’s five consulates in the country, followed by Brazil (137,322), Mexico (116,785) and Cuba, where 137,770 applications have been filed at its sole consulate in Havana. The United States and Chile also recorded over 50,000 applications, whilst France exceeded 25,000.
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The figures also show very high rates of approval. Of the applications processed, virtually all have been approved to date, with only 1.32 percent being rejected.
The bottleneck comes from the fact that 54 percent of applications are still waiting to be processed, something that has left thousands in legal limbo around the world. Many have been waiting for over a year just to secure an appointment and complain of feeling trapped in an endless administrative process.
Roberto, a Cuban who has applied for citizenship alongside his mother, sisters and cousins, told El Diario: “For many families, this has become a bureaucratic nightmare and an ordeal of paperwork, administrative silence and emotional strain”.
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The initial window for this citizenship route was previously scheduled to end in October 2024 but extended by a year due to the sheer number of applications.
The Spanish government estimates it has received more than 1.5 million applications in total.
Though the deadline for submitting applications was 22nd October 2025, reports in the Spanish press and from consulates abroad suggest the processing period could conclude years down the line.
READ ALSO: 12 must-read articles before applying for Spanish citizenship
