Spain received more than 2.3 million applications for citizenship from descendants of people who fled the country during the rule of dictator Francisco Franco, overwhelming its consular services worldwide.
Over 1 million people formally applied for Spanish nationality under the Law of Democratic Memory since the programme launched in October 2022, with another 1.3 million scheduling appointments they have not yet been able to attend due to massive backlogs, according to the General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad (CGCEE).
