Spanish Citizenship Abroad and extension of the Grandchildren's Law: "Our emigrants want to return".

An extension of the Grandchildren's Law. The General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad (CGCEE) assures that Spain needs people and "our emigrants want to return".

Violeta Alonso, president of the General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad (CGCEE), a consultative and advisory body to the Government of Spain, represents more than 3 million Spaniards living outside the European country, but she assures that conditions must be created, as many of them want to return.

What is being debated these days and what improvements are going to be implemented for those Spaniards who return to the country? According to Alonso, a lot will have to do with "consular services, with the protection of women abroad, with disability, with tax issues, with the homologation of degrees and with access to university for Spaniards who finish secondary school abroad".

The president of the CGCEE also calls for a reform of the Civil Code to modify that part that affects Spanish emigrants and descendants.

Spanish citizenship: emigrants and the Law of grandchildren

We seek that the benefits that have been obtained with the Law of Historical Memory and with the Law of Democratic Memory (Law of Grandchildren) can be extended over time. That is, that we are not subject to temporary laws that have a specific validity and that, when it ends, people who may be in this situation (of opting for nationality) can no longer opt for it", said to the local press.

Alonso said that consulates such as Argentina or Cuba are overwhelmed by the requests and because "the law has a very limited validity (the deadline for applying for nationality ends on October 21). What we want, apart from being a law that remains, that remains over time, is to cover some cases that have also been left out of this regulation.

It is also requested that foreign spouses of Spaniards who are living abroad, without the need for residence in Spain, can opt for Spanish nationality," he added.