Madrid.- Latin American nationals, alongside Moroccans, lead the recipients of Spanish nationality in 2023, as per official data released on Friday.
Last year, a total of 240,208 foreigners were granted Spanish citizenship, marking a 32.3% increase from the previous year, according to statistics from the Spanish National Statistics Institute.
Moroccans topped the list with 54,027 individuals acquiring Spanish nationality, followed by Venezuelans (30,154) and Colombians (18,738). Ecuadorians (11,326), Hondurans (11,189), Dominicans (10,275), Cubans (9,790), Bolivians (9,103), Peruvians (8,489), and Argentinians (7,208) also featured prominently.
Among the new citizens, 21.2% had always resided in Spain, while 78.8% had previously lived abroad, typically taking about five years to complete the naturalization process.
Spain itself was the most common place of birth among those acquiring nationality, with 52,451 cases, followed by Venezuela (29,581), Morocco (24,078), Colombia (18,428), Honduras (10,393), Ecuador (9,990), Cuba (9,799), the Dominican Republic (9,572), Peru (8,327), and Bolivia (8,003).
Source: EFE