Hundreds of Cubans line up to become Spaniards

Here's a different article from another source which claims one half the number of Cubans are eligible for Spanish citizenship.

Hundreds of Cubans apply for Spanish citizenship

Havana, Dec 27: Hundreds of Cubans are applying for Spanish citizenship as part of Madrid's new "law of grandchildren", which comes into force next week, EFE reported on Saturday.

The new law makes provision for grandchildren of Spaniards born in Spain or exiled during the regime of Spanish dictator late General Franco.

According to estimates of the Spanish consulate in Havana, in the two or three years that the law will be in force, some 100,000 Cubans a year could obtain Spanish nationality.

Spain's Law of Historical Memory opens the possibility for grandchildren of Spaniards to acquire Spanish citizenship either by showing that a grandparent was a Spaniard born in Spain, or by being the grandchild of someone exiled from the Iberian nation after Gen Franco's victory in the 1936-1939 civil war.

"We have to be ready for anything. That's what you have to do to win at anything," Francisco, a 48-year-old Havana resident, said.

Francisco wants to become Spanish, thanks to the right given him by being the grandson of a Spaniard and with the idea of seeking his fortune in Spain, where he has Cuban friends.

http://www.zeenews.com/world/2008-12-27/494195news.html

and seek to leave the island.

Where does it say that they will be seeking to leave the island?

On Miami local TV/radio news the consul of the Spanish consulate in Miami has asked that people seeking citizenship to please acquire an application online and submit it prior to calling or coming to the office. They are overwhelmed with people who are overcrowding their offices.

I guess you would presume that these people are seeking tox flee xleave Miami?

"For Teresa, the 56-year old granddaughter of natives of Spain's Basque region, the Spanish passport will enable her to travel to the United States because "you don't need a visa."

Others, like William, 38, do not make secret their opinion that Spanish citizenship for them is the chance to leave Cuba and find a better life, because in Spain "you can work, make money and live comfortably".


of course I am sure many Miami Cubans may want to go to Spain. with a Spanish passport, you are also a EU citizens and the benefits derived. at the minimum, I'd say US Cubans have that Spanish citizens option as a back up.

Cubans in Cuba I would surmise are more likely to use this "ticket" to leave Cuba. also, there would be no travel restrictions to and fro with a Spanish passport. I am sure they are not lining up just for fun.

of course the law applies to all the Spanish descendents not just those in Cuba

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/830241.html

More than 400 Cubans of Spanish ancestry mobbed that country's stately embassy in Havana on Monday, waiting to apply for citizenship under the newly enacted "law of grandchildren."

Spain has begun accepting citizenship applications from the descendants of people who went into exile after its brutal 1936-39 Civil War, part of a 2007 law meant to address the painful legacy of the conflict and the ensuing right wing dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco. But a new provision approved Friday also allows anyone whose parents or grandparents were born in Spain but went overseas because of their political beliefs or economic hardship to become Spaniards.

Those accepted do not have to renounce their current citizenship.


Officials in Madrid have estimated that as many as half a million people worldwide could be eligible to become citizens, although it is unclear how many of those are in Cuba. Some 300,000 people in Argentina alone may qualify.

Spanish authorities have asked applicants to use the Internet to set up a consular appointment, and most potential Spanish citizens in countries outside of Cuba were going online instead of heading to their local embassy.

There were a few dozen people lined up at the Spanish Embassy in Mexico City. But that was nothing compared to the tangled and disorganized clumps of would-be Spanish citizens that stretched across a busy avenue and engulfed a small park in Havana, because access to the Web is tightly controlled in this country.

Miguel Carpio, a 52-year-old office worker, said his sister in Miami used the Internet to secure a consular appointment, but he had no choice but to wait in line.

"Maybe we can all see each other there in Spain some day," he said.

Even those who receive Spanish citizenship must wait for permission from the Cuban government to travel abroad, a process that is often slow and arduous.

Carpio says he has no plans to emigrate - at least for now.

"I'm just thinking of visiting," he said. "But having the option is very valuable."

Norberto Luis Diaz, 38, was the first person in Cuba to be approved for citizenship under the new provisions. A Spanish consular official signed the forms authorizing his passport, and Diaz excitedly hugged his family members moments later.

"I have more Spanish blood than Cuban blood because almost 75 percent of my genes are Spanish," said Diaz, whose grandfather arrived in Cuba in the early 1900s and married a fellow Spanish exile just to be sure he preserved his homeland's citizenship.

Diaz is a cardiologist who began applying for permission to travel to Spain in 2002. Because many Cuban health care workers have to wait six years for approval to head abroad for extended periods, official Cuban permission to leave only came last week, days before the law took affect - making him the first Cuban eligible.

He said he plans to stay in Spain for several months and has already inquired about practicing medicine there, but will one day return to Cuba.

"This is my homeland, too," Diaz said.

Because his application was already being processed, he avoided the monstrous line outside the colonial-style embassy, situated off tree-lined Paseo del Prado Boulevard between central Havana and the capital's historic Old Town.

The embassy was only open until 4 p.m., and most people in line had no hope of being seen Monday. Many began to arrange for family members to hold their place night and day for as long as it takes.

One of those who reached the front was 79-year-old Yolanda Ruiz - but only because she began waiting Sunday at midday. Relatives waited in shifts for her all night.

"I'm very excited about seeing my 18 cousins scattered around there," Ruiz said of a possible trip to Spain.

Nope. Doesn't look like Cuba will be emptying out anytime soon.

Spain will have to determine who qualifies. Italy has the same procedure. I have a Colombian friend who did that and received Italian citizenship.

the focus appears on Cuba though given the long lines due apparently to the restrictive use of the internet in Cuba. also, it will be interesting to see if Cuba will grant exit visas for those with newly obtained Spanish citizenship who wish to leave.

For starters Spain's umemployment rate is c. double the rest of Europe. See here :

For the million Spanish families who saw a wage-earner lose their job in 2008, Christmas was a lot grimmer. The Spanish economy tends to exaggerate both the glories and the pain of its neighbours. When they grow, it grows faster; when they shrink, it is among the worst-hit. Over this decade it has created more jobs than any other country in Europe; now it is destroying them equally briskly.

The jobless rate is now 13%, over 3m, compared with a European average of 7%. Spain has as many unemployed as Germany, with a population 80% bigger. The future is scarier still: some forecasters talk of 16% unemployment, and Spain’s savings banks predict 18% (over 4m people) in 2010. The construction bust is adding extra victims to those of the credit crunch. And for the first time Spain faces recession with a big immigrant population, which has risen eightfold in a decade, to just over 5m.
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12867320&fsrc=rss

Having said that, given Spanish passports, they could infact live and work almost anywhere in the EU : that's because EU is EU.

The Brits love affair with Spain started mid sixties with the introduction of low cost charter fights which our travel industry scooped up. Inclusive family holidays for buttons, often with the children free, soon followed with the main attractions being almost guaranteed sun and cheap booze. Part of the reason for Spain's growth since joining the EU was a boom in the building industry providing homes for those who wished to retire there and that has now folded with a vengence following financial issues during the past year.

I was out there every summer , and a few times skiing in the winter high above Grenada, from the mid '70s to 1987 when this pic was taken. My wife died 3 years later and apart from a long weekender to Barcelona I've never returned.


I'd like to wish all of you on this board a Happy New Year. :grouphug:

I'm off out dancing to live Rock 'n Roll tonight and hope you all enjoy yourselves equally.

Richard

they can go to EU countries or travel to the US or just about anywhere really. if the Cuban government lets them that is.

would only let them enter the USA for 90 days on the waiver program. Any transgressions and they just wouldn't be allowed back in again. That's the deal between the USA and the EU. To stay longer they'd need to get a visa before travelling whatever and that would be don't hold your breath because they'd need to provide an acceptable reason for exceeding 90 days.

and they could still travel easily to other countries. assuming they have money and Cuba lets them leave of course.