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A Cuban moved thousands of people on social media by sharing his joy in obtaining Spanish citizenship after a process that took him 40 months from scratch, describing the achievement as "an act of self-love and pride."
Montano Giorquis posted his testimony in the Facebook group "Spanish Consulate in Havana," accompanied by a photograph of him holding his new European Union passport and wearing a t-shirt that reads "Thanks to Law MD20/2022 I AM SPANISH BY Blood and BY Law."
In his message, the Cuban described citizenship as a deep reconnection with his origins: "Becoming a Spanish citizen is like opening a book full of stories that connect you to your roots. It is embracing the land that saw your island grandparents born, where the murmur of the Atlantic and the strength of a millennia-old culture come together to remind you that every step you take is a tribute to the heritage and the resilient spirit of Canaria."
The mention of the "island grandparents" is a direct reference to the Canary Islands emigration to Cuba, one of the most significant migration flows between Spain and the island during the 19th and 20th centuries. This explains why the descendants of Canarians are the largest group of Cubans who applied for Spanish citizenship under this law, with 63,991 registered voters.
The process referred to by the author is outlined in the Law of Democratic Memory (Law 20/2022), which allowed the children and grandchildren of Spaniards who lost their nationality due to political exile during the Civil War or the Franco dictatorship to regain it.
The deadline to submit new applications definitively closed on October 22, 2025, after two extensions, although those who already had an ongoing file retain their right to a resolution.
Globally, 876,321 applications were received under this law, of which approximately 237,145 were approved by September 2025.
Only the Spanish Consulate in Havana received 107,338 applications, accounting for 12.24% of the total worldwide, and it is estimated that over 350,000 Cubans have begun the process to take advantage of this route.
The testimony of the 40 months accurately reflects the complexity of the process, which requires gathering historical documentation, legalizing it with the Cuban MINJUS and the Spanish Consulate, and awaiting a resolution in the Civil Registry, with waiting times in 2026 ranging from two to over five months just in that final phase.
For Cubans, Spanish citizenship also represents an unprecedented avenue for mobility: free movement within the Schengen Area and full access to the European Union, something that the return guide to Spain for Cubans with nationality highlights as one of the main incentives to complete the process.
Spain warned in October 2025 that it could take up to twenty years to address all the applications submitted under the Law of Democratic Memory, a perspective that makes the Cuban's message even more significant: "40 months since I started from scratch, but it was worth it."
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