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BREXIT

Becoming Spanish: ‘Brexit has made me more than happy to renounce my British passport’

The official rules in Spain state that to become a Spanish citizen you need to renounce your British passport. Writer and teacher Mark Tullett, who has settled in Catalonia tells The Local why giving up his British passport to become Spanish wasn't a difficult decision.

Published: 6 February 2019 15:25 CET
Updated: 29 September 2020 09:30 CEST
Becoming Spanish: 'Brexit has made me more than happy to renounce my British passport'
Photo: Deposit Photos

Mark Tullett always had a dream of retiring to Spain after spending frequent holidays in the country. But he and his partner brought their dream of emigrating forward after slowly growing tired of the rat race in London.

They moved to a town just south of Barcelona, in Catalonia.

Since living in Spain he has taught English at local language academies and published six books. He also manages a property that is rented out to tourists.

He has decided to become a Spanish citizen, a process that officially requires you to give up your British nationality and passport.

A recent poll on The Local Spain's Facebook page revealed that wouldn’t put the majority of people off. .

Some 63 percent of respondents saying they would renounce their British citizenship to become Spanish.

Mark Tulllett is one of those prepared to do so. Here he tells The Local Spain why giving up his British passport is not even an issue for him.

Mark Tullett: I always had the idea of taking Spanish nationality at some point but Brexit made me make the final decision.

I have lived here just South of Barcelona, in Catalonia for almost 15 years, having bought our apartment 30 years ago this May.

The first time we came here felt like coming home which is why we decided to buy and we knew we'd live here some day. 

With less connection to British contemporary society and culture I feel less and less British and more Spanish, so giving up the passport isn't important to me. Also with everything that's coming out of the UK these days related to Brexit I am more than happy to renounce my passport. Having a British Passport means nothing to me anymore. Being British is just an accident of birth and geography.

Whether this will change will probably depend on what happens in the near future, but I would never consider moving back to the UK nor giving up a Spanish passport once I get one.

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I am thoroughly ashamed of some of my fellow Brits; the attitude of so many against the EU, the constant mention of the war, which most of them have no idea about as they weren't even born then, or were too young to understand, the rise in hate crime in the country, the government that is a laughing stock and appears to have no idea what it is doing, or what it wants, while appearing under the 'guidance' of outside forces to push through Brexit.
 
It's not that feel lucky to be able to have a Spanish passport; privileged or fortunate would be a better word.
 
I certainly feel luckier than many Brits who haven't yet achieved the necessary time in their adopted country in the EU and are in an even worse state of Limbo than I.
 
I how have more in common with most of my Catalan and Spanish friends than I do many of the other immigrants from the UK living here. I feel I am well integrated and would never leave.  It is truly mi pais now. 

On my first ever visit to Spain I had a sense of belonging, a sense of coming home.  Moving here with my husband (partner at that time) we worried about acceptance in the small 'village' we moved into, but were immediately accepted and became part of the community in no time.

When we married here we were treated with dignity and respect throughout the process by everyone, and when my husband died recently our neighbours and friends were more than supportive.

I cannot imagine any of this happening in the south east of London which is where we lived before we moved here, and we were there 20 years.  I have experienced nothing but kindness here, in London it was not the same. 

In the UK I was working all hours possible to pay the bills, here life is much simpler and less stressful. There is less emphasis on status linked to the job you do etc. 
 
It's  true Spain has it's problems, for sure, especially here in Catalonia, but not to the degree that the British press portray. 
 
Spain is most definitely on the 'up' and a great place to be. 

Member comments

  1. For years we’ve watched the classist, entitled, delusional Eton/Harrow-trained post British “Imperialists” shift their Taking-and-Blaming act from the former colonies to the middle and lower class on their own damp island. All whilst “cleverly” scapegoating all the disasters in the U.K. (trains, NHS, general cruelty and callousness) on those damned Krauts, Frogs and Wogs {yes, post-colonial British racism, still “at its finest.” Of late we’ve seen that the one thing that unites the Tories (other than racism, scapegoating and “trickle up economics”) is their stunning incompetence. Were I a Brit living in the EU, I would be “GONE” from my evidently mass-suicidal “home” country. A chin-on-chest thing to have watched all these years.

  2. For years we’ve watched the classist, entitled, delusional Eton/Harrow-trained post British “Imperialists” shift their Taking-and-Blaming act from the former colonies to the middle and lower class on their own damp island. All whilst “cleverly” scapegoating all the disasters in the U.K. (trains, NHS, general cruelty and callousness) on those damned Krauts, Frogs and Wogs {yes, post-colonial British racism, still “at its finest.”} Of late we’ve seen that the one thing that unites the Tories (other than racism, scapegoating and “trickle up economics”) is their stunning incompetence. Were I a Brit living in the EU, I would be “GONE” from my evidently mass-suicidal “home” country. A chin-on-chest thing to have watched all these years.

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SPANISH CITIZENSHIP

Numbers of foreigners acquiring Spanish nationality hits record levels

The number of foreigners acquiring Spanish nationality shot up by a third in 2023, with certain countries of origin and regions of Spain dominating the figures.

Published: 17 June 2024 11:50 CEST
Numbers of foreigners acquiring Spanish nationality hits record levels

New data released by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) has revealed that the number of foreigners acquiring Spanish nationality has increased by a third in the last year alone.

In 2023 the number of foreign born people naturalising and getting Spanish nationality increased by 32.3 percent, to 240,208 in total, the highest figure for a decade.

INE data shows that of the near quarter-million foreigners who acquired Spanish nationality in 2023, 54.8 percent were women and 45.2 percent were men.

READ ALSO: Spain’s population inches closer to 49 million with 900 new residents a day

By age, people between 30 and 39 years of age made up the largest group acquiring Spanish nationality, followed by the 40 to 49 age group.

In terms of origin, Moroccans were most likely to get Spanish nationality, with 54,027 cases, followed by Venezuelans (30,154) and Colombians (18,738). Other South American and Central American countries, such as Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia, rounded out the top 10.

READ ALSO: When’s the deadline for Spanish citizenship through the Grandchildren’s Law?

Of the 240,208 people who acquired Spanish nationality in 2023, 21.2 percent of them had always lived in Spain. The remaining 78.8 percent had previously lived abroad and then moved to Spain. On average, it took them roughly five years to acquire Spanish nationality.

Catalonia was the region that had the most naturalisations in 2023, with 60,846, followed by Madrid, with 50,049, and the two regions between them accounted for almost half (46.2) percent of the total acquisitions. Third was Valencia, with 25,119, and Andalusia, with 24,059.

La Rioja (952) and Extremadura (1,309) were the regions with the lowest number of foreigners acquiring Spanish nationality in 2023.

In terms of how foreigners acquired Spanish nationality, INE states that “212,779 cases were by residence and 26,844 by option.”

To gain Spanish nationality, most foreigners need to reside legally and continuously in Spain for ten years, depending on where they come from.

INE defines nationality ‘by option’ as “a benefit that the legislation offers to foreigners who meet certain conditions in order to acquire Spanish nationality. Persons who are or have been subject to the parental authority of a Spaniard, or persons whose father or mother was Spanish and who were born in Spain, are entitled to acquire Spanish nationality in this way.”

Nationality by option was much more common among those under 20 years of age, representing 95.7 percent of the total.

The period of time foreigners must wait before applying for nationality may vary depending on family ties:

  • 10 years is the normal rule
  • 5 years if you are a refugee
  • 2 years if you are from a Latin American country, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, Philippines or Portugal. In all of these cases, you will not need to give up your original nationality, and you will be granted dual citizenship.
  • 1 year for those married to a Spanish national or children/grandchildren of Spanish citizens born in Spain. 
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