Spanish Court Revokes Citizenship of Moroccan Man for Lack of Integration

In its ruling issued at the end of March, the administrative chamber of the National Court upheld the request of the Ministry of Justice to cancel the Spanish nationality of the Moroccan. The judge cited the lack of integration of the individual as required by Article 22.4 of the Civil Code, considering that the initial administrative decision to grant nationality, issued by the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith on October 28, 2022, was contrary to the law.

According to the court, the applicant for Spanish nationality did not sufficiently prove his integration during the tests of knowledge of the Spanish language and sociocultural reality (DELE and CCSE). Originally from Tan-Tan in Morocco, the man applied for Spanish nationality by residence, claiming to be "illiterate" and requesting to be exempted from language tests.

"He cannot ignore the existence of this integration condition and the possibility offered by the regulations for people in their situation. Likewise, that a request for Spanish nationality by residence could not be initiated until the exemption had been requested and obtained, with the exception of the request for exemption from those who have been schooled in Spain and have passed Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO)," the court stated.

The Audiencia Nacional further emphasized that "integration requires knowledge, even minimal and basic, of the language and reality of the country of which one wishes to be a national, which, in principle, has not been the case." The Court adds that "Spanish nationality does not constitute a subjective right, but a sovereign act of the State, conditioned by compliance with legal requirements." Consequently, it annulled the Spanish nationality of the Moroccan, giving him the possibility to submit a new application, while respecting the required legal requirements.