Spanish Citizenship Granted to Moroccan-Born FC Barcelona Athlete Ghaita El Jarraz

The young Moroccan had been awaiting her naturalization since 2017. Last Thursday, she finally received the good news. She is now fully Spanish and can compete as such.

Exactly six months ago, she had met her coach, Héctor Barrasa, and the President of the Government of La Rioja, Concha Andreu, who assured that she would "provide her with all her help", specifying that generally, the processing of these files takes between three and five months. Apparently, there was an error in the administrative procedure when processing the file, adds Concha Andreu, who believes that "it is not logical that this athlete, with the time she has spent in Spain, cannot be Spanish due to an administrative error".

Thus, Ghaita El Jarraz will continue the season with Spanish nationality.

Born in Tetouan, Morocco in 2001, she moved with her family to La Rioja in 2006. She has participated in several international competitions such as the European Cup for Under-18s in Györ (Hungary) and the World Cup for Under-18s in Nairobi (Kenya), but she had not yet obtained Spanish nationality. She had been offered to wear the Moroccan colors, but she declined the offer. She holds a personal best of 56.40 seconds in the 400 meters, one of the best in the country.

"I applied for Spanish nationality for athletics, otherwise I don’t care," Ghaita El Jarraz confided to the newspaper La Rioja, before adding that "not having nationality deprives you of many opportunities..."