The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, and the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, held a meeting on the sidelines of the 3rd General Assembly of the Sahel Alliance, held in Madrid on 4 April 2022.
At this meeting, the two ministers welcomed the entry into force of the Agreement on Spanish-French Nationality on 1 April 2022. Following the ratification process that both countries have undertaken as a priority, the text has entered into force one year after it was signed by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez and by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, at the 26th Spain-France Summit in Montauban on 15 March 2021. This agreement is a further step forward in the friendship between our countries, and strengthens the deep human ties between the Spanish and French people.
The Agreement on Spanish-French Nationality establishes a symmetry between Spain and France on their treatment of dual nationality, and strengthens the ties between the two countries. France is the first non-Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking country with which Spain has signed a bilateral agreement of this nature.
This agreement will further reinforce the great cultural and social proximity that unites Spanish and French people, particularly the more than 100,000 French people that live in Spain and the almost 300,000 Spaniards that live in France, who contribute daily to the prosperity of our two countries.
The entry into force of this agreement contains a strong historical dimension, as it allows for the retroactive recovery of their original nationality for those Spaniards who lost it when they acquired French nationality.
It thus recognises the profound roots of Spain’s presence in France, marked by the 500,000 refugees who were taken in during the Withdrawal of 1939, including many pro-freedom fighters who joined a free France, and the fact that thousands of Spaniards made France their home after being exiled.
Spain and France now jointly recognise the legitimacy of the aspirations of many countrymen to accredit their dual origin – Spain and France – both members of the common European project. This agreement thus contributes to strengthen a Europe of the people, which we are promoting under the current French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and will continue to promote during the Spanish Presidency in the second half of 2023.