Families of Brigaders can apply for Spanish nationality

Descendants of International Brigaders can now seek Spanish nationality under the terms of a new law that was enacted by the Cortes (Spanish parliament) last year.

Article 33 of the Democratic Memory Law offers citizenship to those family members who can prove that they have ‘worked continuously to spread the memory of their ancestors and defend democracy in Spain’. There is no need to renounce current citizenship of any other country.

The Spanish consulate in London has advised the IBMT that all applications under Article 33 must be submitted online directly to the Ministry of Justice in Spain.

According to the consulate, the following documents will be needed with each application:

• A completed application form, which can be downloaded here.
• Supporting documents to prove that the applicant’s antecedent was a member of the International Brigades.
• A legalised copy of the applicant’s birth certificate, translated into Spanish (plus, for grandchildren, the legalised and translated birth certificate of the applicant’s parent descended from an International Brigader).
• If the applicant is married, a legalised copy of their marriage certificate, translated into Spanish. If the applicant’s spouse is a Spanish citizen, the Spanish birth certificate must also be provided.

If necessary, the IBMT will also provide members with a covering letter stating that the applicant’s IBMT membership has helped ‘spread the memory of their ancestors and defend democracy in Spain’.

Applications must be submitted online through the link here, where additional information about the application process is also available.

Guidance note

To help with the Spanish-only application form, the IBMT has produced a rough guide to indicate how the fields should be completed. It is available here.

Certified translators should be searchable online. If you have difficulties finding one, contact the IBMT here.

Posted on 26 April 2023.

Update from ABBI, the Madrid-based Association of Friends of the International Brigades, dated October 2024

TEMPORARY STOP OF THE PROCEDURE AND PROCEEDINGS FOR THE SPANISH CITIZENSHIP OF THE DESCENDANTS OF BRIGADISTAS

Since 2022, when the Law 20/2022 of Democratic Memory was a bill, the AABI has committed itself to the passage of Article 33, which grants the right to request Spanish citizenship to the descendants of the brigadists. Since the law was published in the BOE, we have done a huge amount of work to provide information, research in archives to obtain documents that prove that their relative was a member of the IB, to resolve many doubts, to help filling out forms, to look for practical solutions for submitting applications and, finally, to submit them on their behalf here in Madrid.

As a result of this effort by the descendants and by us, 166 applications have been submitted in Madrid and in consulates in Belgrade, Warsaw, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. However, we are very concerned to see that the Royal Decree to apply Article 33, although it has been drafted and has technical corrections, has not yet been signed or published in the BOE.

This means that the 166 applications with their relevant certificates and documentation are paralyzed while waiting to be processed.

For this reason, we are forced to TEMPORARY CEASE THE ADVICE AND PROCESSING OF new APPLICATIONS until the old 166 are released from the paralysis in which they are found for reasons unknown to us.

When there is favourable news, we will again contribute to the application of the Law of Democratic Memory. We appreciate your understanding.