Recovering, losing or renouncing Spanish nationality

The Código Civil (the Spanish Civil Code) regulates three uncommon situations: recovering Spanish nationality that was lost (art. 26), obtaining it through carta de naturaleza when exceptional circumstances apply (art. 21.1), and renouncing it (art. 24). These are routes separate from nationality by residence or by origin, each with its own requirements and its own authority.

Managora identifies which one applies to your case, prepares the paperwork and files the procedure for you. You can check the current price of each service on the page for the relevant procedure (recovery, carta de naturaleza or renunciation).

Anyone who lost Spanish nationality can recover it by meeting the three requirements in article 26 of the Código Civil: being a legal resident in Spain, declaring before the Registro Civil registrar that you wish to recover it, and registering the recovery at the Registro Civil.

The requirement to live in Spain does not apply to emigrants or to the children of emigrants. In the other cases, the Ministerio de Justicia (the Spanish Ministry of Justice) may waive it where exceptional circumstances apply. The CCSE and DELE exams are not required here: they apply only to nationality by residence.

Anyone who lost their nationality on the grounds set out in article 25 needs prior authorisation granted by the Government before they can recover it. Managora prepares and files the recovery for you, and the price is shown on the page for the recovery procedure.

Carta de naturaleza is an exceptional route under article 21.1 of the Código Civil. According to the Ministerio de Justicia, it is granted or refused at the Government's discretion by Real Decreto (Royal Decree), after assessing whether exceptional circumstances are present, and it is a favour rather than an entitlement: it is not subject to the general rules of administrative procedure and it does not create a right to obtain it.

The final decision rests with the Consejo de Ministros (the Spanish cabinet). It has been granted, among other cases, on humanitarian grounds, to victims of terrorism, to athletes and people of standing, and to Sephardic descendants after the specific procedure under Ley 12/2015 closed in 2019.

The application, addressed to the Subdirección General de Nacionalidad y Estado Civil (the nationality and civil status directorate) of the Ministerio de Justicia, can be filed through the Registro Electrónico (the Ministry's electronic register, sede.mjusticia.gob.es) or at any of the public registries listed in article 16 of Ley 39/2015, not only through the Ministry's electronic register. Once the carta is granted, the common requirements of article 23 must be met: the oath or pledge (jura o promesa) of loyalty to the King and obedience to the Constitution, renunciation of the previous nationality where applicable, and registration at the Registro Civil. Managora handles it for you, and you can check the price on the procedure page.

You can renounce Spanish nationality if you are emancipado (legally independent under Spanish law), hold another nationality and habitually live abroad (art. 24 of the Código Civil). The renunciation is declared before the Registro Civil registrar and takes effect once it is registered.

The law protects against statelessness: renunciation is not accepted if it would leave you with no nationality at all. That is why you must already hold another nationality before renouncing. Managora prepares the declaration and files it for you, and the price is shown on the page for the renunciation procedure.

Acquiring the nationality of a country in the historic community of nations (the Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal) does not make you lose Spanish nationality: dual nationality is accepted. Acquiring that of any other country can indeed make you lose it.

An emancipated person who habitually lives abroad and voluntarily acquires another nationality keeps the Spanish one if, within 3 years, they declare before the Registro Civil or the consulate that they wish to keep it. People born and living abroad whose father or mother is Spanish and was also born abroad must, where the country of residence grants them its nationality, make that declaration of retention within the 3 years following the age of majority or emancipation in order not to lose it.

The eighth additional provision of Ley 20/2022 on Democratic Memory (the so-called grandchildren law) allowed the children and grandchildren of Spaniards who went into exile, and of women who lost their nationality through marriage, to opt for nationality of origin. Its window closed on 22 October 2025: as at 17 July 2026 no new applications are accepted, although files submitted within the deadline are still being processed.

Recovery (art. 26) and carta de naturaleza (art. 21.1) remain permanently open. After a grant, the oath or pledge and the registration at the Registro Civil must take place within a maximum of 180 calendar days from the notification (art. 224 of the Reglamento del Registro Civil, the civil registry regulations); requesting the appointment interrupts that deadline.