Moroccans lead Spanish citizenship grants in 2025

Moroccans topped the list of foreign nationals who obtained Spanish citizenship in 2025, with 42,114 people granted nationality, according to recent figures released by Spain’s National Statistics Institute.

Spain recorded a new high in the number of people acquiring citizenship last year, granting nationality to 299,732 foreign residents, an increase of 18.7 percent compared with 2024. Moroccans ranked first, ahead of Colombians, who numbered 37,712, and Venezuelans, with 36,271.

The data showed that 2025 saw the highest number of Spanish citizenship acquisitions since these statistics began to be published in 2013, with the largest concentrations recorded in Catalonia and Madrid.

Most of those who obtained citizenship did so through the legal residency procedure, which accounted for more than 253,000 cases, while the average period of residence before acquiring nationality was six years.

The figures also revealed that women made up the majority of new Spanish citizens, at 55.4 percent, and that the 30-to-39 age group was the most represented.