Mexicans whose Jewish-Sephardic origin could regain Spanish and Portuguese nationality, it is estimated that, after being exiled, approximately 3.5 million Sephardic Jews migrated to the American continent, settling mainly in Mexico City, Monterrey and the highlands of Jalisco.
Rubén Mañanes, lawyer and founder of the Madrid firm Stratego, specialized in nationality by Sephardic origin, said that since European countries offered the convenience of obtaining dual nationality, Hundreds of Mexicans have found the opportunity to connect with their ancestors after discovering their origins in the Iberian Peninsula and in the Sephardic culture, a Jewish community that was expelled from their lands at the end of the 15th century.
“I think it is a great opportunity for the future of many people in Mexico and a reunion with the past for all those who have discovered their Sephardic origin and ask us for help to manage their nationality. We are talking about entire families in the Nuevo León area who are descended from Marcos Alonso de la Garza y Arcón, a Sephardic Jew born in Lepe (Huelva, Spain), who settled in Nuevo León and from whom it is estimated that there may be some two million people whose descendants have surnames such as Garza, Treviño, Cavazos, Elizondo, Cantú, Villarreal, Guajardo, among others, ”said Rubén Mañanes.
He indicated that in Spain there is still a lack of knowledge of what to be Jewish and people are surprised when they see a rabbi, there is strangeness, their customs are not known.
He said that during 2012 and 2013, also in a time of economic crisis, applications for Spanish nationality were reactivated among the Jewish community, that is, in times of crisis, applications are reactivated.
The expert commented that, at the end of the 2015 Spanish law, there were 140 thousand people who registered on the website of the Spanish Ministry of Justice, but the data as of today, part of the process is to go and sign before a notary public in Spain, so today there are only 50 thousand minutes signed and about 15 thousand granted.
He estimated that there would be no more than 30 thousand in process at this time, a great majority are Mexican, of that number there will be about 8 thousand people from Monterrey who have applied for nationality.
Although the option to start the process of Spanish nationality by Sephardic origin ended in 2019, Spanish law 12/2015 allowed more than 30,000 Mexicans to apply for nationality.
On the other hand, the Portuguese Decree-Law no. 30-A / 2015, of February 27, the deadline to apply for Portuguese nationality and thus obtain a European passport is still open and unlimited.
Mentioned that Any person over the age of eighteen who can prove their status as a descendant of Sephardic originating in Spain or PortugalYou can apply for Portuguese nationality, even if you do not have legal residence in Portugal.
Between the benefits when obtaining Portuguese nationality, include: Right to reside and work in any country of the European Union, extendable to spouses and dependent children; take undergraduate or postgraduate courses in European universities, with the fee for EU citizens.
In addition, visa-free entry to countries that do not require a Portuguese visa. Passport Index ranks the Portuguese passport as the third most powerful in the world in 2020; protection in Portuguese Consulates in other countries, and very attractive tax incentives for those who move to reside in Portugal.
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