132,000 Sephardi Jews apply for Spanish citizenship

The deadline has expired for Sephardi Jews applying for Spanish citizenship: 132,000 applications have been received, mainly from Jews living in Latin America, AFP reports via Israel National News. The Portuguese law granting citizenship to Sephardi Jews is open-ended. So far, 10,000 applications have been approved (roughly a third).

Under the legislation, those able to prove their Jewish heritage and their "special connection" to Spain, were able to apply for citizenship, with the justice ministry saying it received 132,226
applications.

 

More than half of them were filed in the past month when the ministry received some 72,000 applications.

 The vast majority came from Latin American countries, with around 20,000 from Mexico, followed by another 15,000 from Venezuela and 14,000 from Colombia, the ministry said, without giving exact figures.

 More than 4,000 applications came from Argentine Jews and around 3,000 from those living in Israel. So far, only 6,000 people have been granted citizenship, given the long and complex process involved.


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