Spanish nationality law

Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and lost. This separate law is the Spanish Civil Code. In general terms, Spanish nationality is based on the principle of jus sanguinis, although limited provisions exist for the acquisition of Spanish nationality based on the principle of jus soli.

All the constitutions in Spain before 1978 have had an article that defines Spanish nationality, even the constitutions that never came into effect. The current constitution of 1978 is the first that does not define Spanish nationality; rather, article 11 establishes that a separate law is to define and regulate it entirely, namely the Spanish Civil Code. It is also the first constitution that emphasises that those "Spaniards by origin", roughly equivalent to a "natural born Spaniard", cannot be deprived of their nationality. On 13 July 1982, and in accordance to what had been established in the constitution, the first law regarding nationality was approved, which was in fact an amendment to the Spanish Civil Code in effect. This law has been reformed on 17 December 1990, 23 December 1993, 2 November 1995, and most recently 2 October 2002.

The approval of article 11 of the constitution was somewhat controversial, mostly due to the possible confusion it would cause with the term "nationalities", in reference to those communities or regions in Spain with a special historical and cultural identity, a term that had been used in the second article of the constitution. It was suggested that article 11 should substitute the term "nationality" for "citizenship", but it was considered, as it is common in other legislations in Europe and Latin America, that the terms were not synonymous.

Another point of constitutional conflict was that the creation of European Union citizenship gave all nationals of EU member the same basic rights in all member States, including the right of active and passive suffrage in municipal elections. The constitution was reformed to allow this.

Spanish legislation regarding nationality establishes two types of nationality: "Spanish nationality by origin" (nacionalidad española de origen, in Spanish)—that is, a "natural-born Spaniard"—and the "Spanish nationality not by origin" (nacionalidad española no de origen in Spanish).

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