The Way of the Cross of a Moroccan to obtain Spanish nationality

Legally arrived in Spain at the age of 20, Zouhira Aouassar, a resident of Malaga originally from Morocco, finds herself in difficulty. For four years, she has been fighting to obtain Spanish nationality. On her arrival, she first settled in Barcelona. She spent 13 years there with her husband who mistreated her and with whom she had three children. The justice system has even condemned the man on several occasions. Thunderbolt: her spouse was acquitted for lack of evidence at the last hearing. The young woman decided to move to Malaga where she had a relative after the Catalan authorities made it clear to her that they could no longer do anything for her, reports Malaga Hoy.

In Malaga, Zouhira lives in an apartment for battered women. She is trying to rebuild her life. Nine years ago, she remarried the president of a collective of which she has become a volunteer. At the same time, she works as an Arabic interpreter in hospitals and other services where the need is felt. "I started at the maternity ward and even the doctors call me when a Moroccan mother comes," she recalls.

In April 2023, the three children from her first marriage who were born and raised in Spain obtain Spanish nationality. A wish that her Spanish husband and she had cherished. But Zouhira still has not obtained Spanish nationality even though a minimum of 10 years of residence is required and she has 21. Moreover, she has no criminal record. For four years, she has been waiting for her application to be successful. "I spent about two thousand euros in fees and for the documentation I have to bring from Morocco," she confides, adding that she has brilliantly passed the exams to obtain nationality. The forty-year-old is surprised to have found that Moroccans who have been in Spain for much less time and whom she has helped as an interpreter have already obtained Spanish nationality.

This situation exasperates her husband. For him, it is discriminatory that the Spanish government has quickly granted Spanish nationality to the Georgian wrestler Ilia Topuria while the rest of those who apply for it, including his wife and ten other people his association is helping, are still waiting. "What’s going on, are we second-class here? My wife has been in Spain for 21 years, she has been a victim of gender-based violence, her children and her husband have Spanish nationality, why do they continue to mistreat her?" he indignantly. To make himself heard, he has filed complaints with the Ministry of Justice and the Ombudsman.