Spanish Supreme Court: Mental Illness Not Grounds to Deny Citizenship

The Moroccan, who has been residing in Spain for 30 years, had been arrested four times after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but has never been prosecuted. Considering his clean criminal record, the Supreme Court annulled the National Court’s judgment on the grounds that there was no reason to reject the Moroccan’s application for nationality.

According to the high court, it is up to the applicant to demonstrate his "good conduct" and for the administration to assess all the elements presented by the applicant, both those that are detrimental to him and those that are favorable to him before and during the illness.

An opinion not shared by Judge Inés Huerta, who believes that "chronic paranoid schizophrenia is an incurable, very serious disease, difficult to manage pharmacologically and whose destabilization leads to aggressive behavior, as evidenced by the arrests he has been subjected to. And this is incompatible with the good civic behavior required."