The Spanish government published this Tuesday in the Official State Gazette the Royal Decree 954/2026, of November 4, which regulates the Law on the Status of Spanish Citizens Abroad and announces aid ranging from 4,000 to 7,600 euros for vulnerable Spanish nationals returning permanently to Spain.
The regulation is particularly relevant for Cubans who obtained nationality through the Democratic Memory Law, known as the "Grandchildren's Law."
Before packing your bags, it's advisable to understand what is currently available and what is not. Financial aid exists on paper, but it cannot be requested yet: the decree sets out guiding amounts but delegates to a future regulation —which the Government has up to a year to approve— the establishment of income requirements, forms, and deadlines.
As noted by the media outlet Hoy Aragón, "until then, there is no official amount, nor income requirements, nor form, nor application deadline."
What will take effect on November 29 is the certificate of returned Spanish citizen, the key to accessing the return programs. To obtain it, four documents are required: a valid Spanish passport or national identity document, a literal birth certificate from the Spanish Civil Registry, a consular cancellation certificate, and a historical residency certificate in Spain.
The resolution pertains to the General Directorate of Spanish Citizenship Abroad and Return Policies, with a maximum period of three months.
The most surprising requirement may be the Consular Registration: Article 6.4 of the regulations states that one must have been registered for at least 12 months before applying for consular deregistration. Those who have not registered with the consulate of their country of residence will not be able to verify their status as a returnee until they complete that period.
Can Cubans who obtained citizenship through the Law of Grandchildren access it?
Initially, yes. A directive signed in October 2022 by the then director general of Legal Security and Public Faith, Sofía Puente, established that those who acquired nationality through the Law of Democratic Memory would be considered Spaniards by origin retroactively. This classification would allow them to qualify for future aid, provided they are between 18 and 65 years old, demonstrate economic vulnerability, and meet the requirements of the pending development regulations.
It is estimated that more than 350,000 Cubans have begun the naturalization process since the law took effect in October 2022. For those who already have citizenship and are considering returning, the most urgent step is to verify that their consular registration has been active for at least 12 months and to promptly manage the consular deregistration certificate and the literal birth certificate, which are the documents that take the longest to obtain.
There is a return guide for Cubans with Spanish nationality that includes additional information about the process.
The controversy: help or electoral strategy?
The regulation has not gone unnoticed in the Spanish political debate. According to an investigation by El Debate, the Government is reportedly using the publication to "create economic expectations among an electoral group to which the Government itself has opened the doors to nationality," although the publication itself clarifies that "there is no evidence that this assistance is conditional on voting."
The decree will come into effect on November 29, the day of the Spanish general elections.
The scale of the budgetary shift fuels controversy. In 2019, the last year in which similar assistance was granted, the program distributed less than 800,000 euros among 858 beneficiaries, averaging 930 euros per person; in 2020, more than 1,800 applications were submitted, and none were approved.
The projected expenditure now amounts to more than eight million euros annually, and the maximum of 7,600 euros is 8.2 times the average that was paid seven years ago.
While waiting for the regulation that will make state assistance effective, Cuban-Spaniards can consult already active programs: Asturias offers up to 6,000 euros for Asturians and their descendants returning, and Canary Islands coordinates assistance for about 70,000 Canarians and their descendants in Cuba.
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