MADRID – Spain has granted citizenship to 4,302 people whose Jewish ancestors fled after being told in 1492 to convert to Catholicism or go into exile.
Justice Minister Rafael Catala says the naturalizations were approved a day after Spain adopted its new citizenship law for descendants of Sephardic Jews.
It allows applicants to maintain their original citizenship so they can have dual nationality.
Those granted citizenship Friday applied under an older law requiring them to relinquish home country nationality but can now have dual nationality.
Spain's Federation of Jewish Communities says most are from Morocco, Turkey and Venezuela.
The new law gives Sephardic Jews and their descendants three years to seek a Spanish passport, with the right to work and live in the 28-nation European Union.
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