Through an official statement, Ángel Víctor Torres Pérez, Minister of the Presidency of the Government of Spain, confirmed that the Democratic Memory Law, better known as the Grandchildren Law, was going to be extended, giving more people the opportunity to obtain dual nationality.
📢The @territorialgob The deadline for descendants of exile to acquire Spanish nationality will be extended by one more year.
✅We guarantee the rights of those who fled totalitarianism
⚖️We do justice by applying the Democratic Memory Law#EPDesayunosTorres pic.twitter.com/Aojnbv5REe
— Ángel Víctor Torres Pérez (@avtorresp) February 29, 2024
It is important to remember that this law, which offers the opportunity to descendants of Spaniards exiled during the civil war and the Franco dictatorship to obtain an Iberian nationality, was supposed to end in 2024, but the extension extended this period for one more year.
In this way, Cubans who descend from these Spaniards and can prove it will be able to present their files to the Consulate General of Spain in Havana until October 2025.
Without a doubt, this news represents a relief for many who were expecting not to be able to deliver their file on time and for those who have been dealing with the slow Spanish bureaucracy for months.
According to Minister Torres Pérez, for the Government of the Socialist Party it is vitally important that more time be granted to applicants to complete all the necessary procedures.
With this, all that remains is for the decision to be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), although the statement made by the senior member of the executive branch suggests that this will only be a matter of time.
Authorities commit to speeding up the process
This has been a good month for those who wish to apply for dual nationality on the Island, since a few days ago it was announced that the Spanish authorities They committed to speeding up their bureaucratic processes related to the Grandchildren Law.
For this, the Spanish Embassy in Havana promised to create greater capacities to attend more quickly to Cubans who opt for dual nationality, since the lack of personnel was one of the main problems in dealing with these cases.
In that sense, Four new offices are planned to be opened for the processing of these fileswhile it is planned to open a second consulate general of Spain on the Island by the end of 2024, further accelerating the process.
This second Spanish headquarters will be located in the province of Camagüey, with the aim of providing attention to the eastern half of the Island without having to travel to the capital.