Spain to let in 1m Latin Americans

www.guardian.co.uk Giles Tremlett in Madrid Tuesday January 21, 2003 The Guardian

From Buenos Aires to Bogota, the daily queues outside Spanish consulates have begun to stretch around the block as up to a million Latin Americans exploit a new law allowing them to become Spaniards.

The law, which came into effect 10 days ago, opens the doors of Spain and, by extension, of the European Union, to children and grandchildren of Spanish exiles and emigrants in the Americas.

The Spanish foreign minister, Ana Palacio, expects a million applications, equivalent to a 2.5% rise in the population.

Ms Palacio, from the ruling conservative People's party, said the law would help right the wrongs suffered by those forced into exile by General Franco. But it has also been seen as a way of ensuring that the next wave of immigrants are people who share its language and religion.

With its low birth rate and booming economy, Spain has reversed its status as a country of emigrants, attracting an influx of mainly Moroccans, east Europeans and Africans. It now takes almost 25% of the foreigners who moved to the EU last year.

With Latin America, especially Venezuela and Argentina, suffering a major economic crisis, Spanish consulates have been inundated with requests.

Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela have the biggest Spanish emigrant populations, and therefore the most applicants.

In Argentina, where some 300,000 people are eligible to apply, news of the law made it onto the front pages.

There is a long wait, however - up to 18 months before applicants even have their cases looked at.

But such is the demand in Buenos Aires that professional queuers are charging £1 a day to applicants who cannot afford the time to queue or who wish to escape the harsh summer sun.

The law rights some of the anomalies of traditional Spanish machismo, which allowed children of Spanish men born abroad to claim nationality but not those of women who married foreigners. It also allows the grandchildren of exiles or emigrants to claim nationality if they themselves have resided in Spain for more than a year.

The new measure has gone largely unremarked upon in Spain, which is beginning to get used to the idea that its economy will need the labour of millions of new immigrants.