Moroccan Immigrants Lead Surge in Spanish Citizenship as Naturalization Process Speeds Up

According to the Spanish Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, naturalizations in Spain have increased by 300% since last August, from 4,800 naturalization cases resolved per month to 19,000. This increase is attributable to the robotization of the system, which gives "very good results", rejoiced the minister.

This is a system launched last August which aims to lighten the processing of files in the civil status registers, explained the minister, rejoicing in its operability, the number of cases resolved being higher than the number of cases received.

This application has made it possible to resolve around 35,000 cases in one month, or 10% of the total. "We think the application will continue to work and that we will be able to smooth out this nationality situation, because people have been waiting for a long time," the minister had then declared. Now, robots perform certain parts of the procedure, which were previously carried out by civil servants.

In 2021, 144,012 foreigners residing in the country acquired Spanish nationality, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, including 42,000 Moroccans. They are thus at the forefront of naturalization applicants in Spain. Three Latin American countries then follow: Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, with around 8,300 each.