Moroccan Economist Wins Spanish Citizenship After Years-Long Wait

Jamal El Anbi was 10 years old and playing in the streets of Larache when his father left for Spain in search of a better future. Three years later, the whole family joined him there. Thus, Jamal studied in Spain, until becoming a prestigious economist with an exceptional career. He is the laureate of the Princess of Girona Foundation prize and has proven himself at the Bank of Spain. He even had the privilege of greeting the King of Spain. He successfully passed the entrance exam to the European Central Bank, but could not be hired because his application for Spanish citizenship remained blocked.

For several years, the processing of his file did not progress. In May 2019, a few days after the publication by the newspaper El País of an article on this situation, the file was taken up again and is on the right track, says the Moroccan. In a few weeks, he could become a Spanish civil servant at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. "I haven’t got the document yet, but I can swear: I’m Spanish," he says.

"If I had obtained nationality earlier, I would have been a scholarship holder... I don’t think it’s an administrative problem, because I worked at the Bank of Spain. Even if you meet all the conditions, provide all the required documents, you’re afraid of running into a xenophobe who will prevent you from moving forward. It didn’t happen to me, but the people around me have suffered the consequences of this disdain," he explains, lamenting that some consider Moroccan migrants as thieves or terrorists.

Soon, Jamal El Anbi will have his Spanish passport. "At the airport entrance or exit, I won’t have to queue at immigration anymore," he rejoices. For now, the young economist works as a consultant and intends to help those who find themselves in the same situation as he was a few years ago.