Spain Receives 130,000 Citizenship Applications from Descendants of Expelled Jews

In total, as of October 1, the Spanish Ministry of Justice has registered 130,000 applications for Spanish citizenship, filed by descendants of Spanish Jews expelled from the country in 1492. This date marks the last day of registration for the Jews concerned.

According to the Spanish Ministry of Justice, most of the applications have been submitted by citizens of Latin American countries, mainly Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. More than half of them were submitted last month.

This operation is part of the implementation of a law passed in 2015. Indeed, it authorizes the descendants of Spanish Jews expelled from the country during the Spanish Inquisition to apply for citizenship without losing the one they might have.

After their expulsion, these Jews had been able to settle in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and elsewhere. A considerable number of their descendants, the Sephardic Jews, now live in Israel and elsewhere in the world.

For now, the Spanish Ministry of Justice has not released any figures on the number of applications approved to date.