Country guide · Spain

Does Spain allow dual citizenship with the USA?

Citizenship-by-Descent.com·Last reviewed November 2026

Educational information only — not legal advice. Always verify with the relevant authority, consulate or registry office.

Only in part. Spain has no dual nationality treaty with the United States, but an American who is Spanish by origin, for example through a parent, can hold both, as long as they act in time to stop Spanish nationality lapsing. Nothing makes a Spaniard by origin give up US citizenship. The catch runs the other way: a Spaniard who lives in the US has a three-year window to show they want to stay Spanish, and after that the nationality ends. Descendants who aren’t Spanish by origin are in a different position. An American who acquires Spanish nationality by option or by residence must declare that they renounce their previous nationality. So the route you use matters more than the passport you hold.

The short answer

  • American with a parent who was Spanish at your birth: Spanish by origin. No renunciation, but check the deadlines in articles 24.1 and 24.3.
  • Spaniard living in the US who becomes American: keeps Spanish nationality only by declaring that wish within three years of naturalising.
  • Spaniard living in Spain who takes another nationality: article 24.1 doesn’t apply, because it’s limited to people who habitually live abroad.
  • American opting under article 20.1(b), or naturalising by residence: must declare that they renounce their previous nationality.
  • People from Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal or France: no renunciation, and Spaniards by origin who take one of those nationalities aren’t caught by article 24.1.

How Spain got here

Spain’s rules have changed several times, and the version that counts is the one in force when your ancestor acted. These dates come from the earlier versions of the Civil Code kept by the official gazette, the BOE.

  • 1889: automatic loss. Article 20 of the original Code said Spanish status was lost by acquiring naturalisation in a foreign country. Article 25 made foreigners renounce their previous nationality to become Spanish, which is the root of today’s article 23.
  • 5 August 1954: conditions on the loss. Article 22 said people who voluntarily took another nationality lost Spanish nationality, but only if they were 21, or 18 and emancipated, had lived outside Spain for at least the three years before, and, for men, weren’t liable for active military service unless excused. Ibero-American countries and the Philippines could be exempted by express agreement.
  • 1978: the Constitution. Article 11 says no Spaniard of origin may be deprived of their nationality. It lets Spain sign dual nationality treaties with Ibero-American countries and those with a particular link to Spain, and says Spaniards may naturalise in those countries without losing their nationality of origin.
  • 19 August 1982: the emigration exception. Article 23 kept the loss for emancipated people who had lived abroad for three years and voluntarily took another nationality, but not if they showed the new nationality was acquired because of emigration. Spaniards who had held a foreign nationality since childhood lost Spanish nationality only by expressly giving it up.
  • 7 January 1991: the three-year clock. Article 24 set the structure Spain still uses: loss three years after acquiring the foreign nationality, or after emancipation for someone who uses only a foreign nationality already held.
  • 9 January 2003: the right to stop the clock, and the age-21 rule. Law 36/2002 let people avoid the loss by declaring that they want to keep Spanish nationality, and added article 24.3. Its additional provision 2 applies article 24.3 only to people who reached majority after the law took effect.
  • 1 April 2022: France. The Montauban convention took effect. It’s the first of its kind with a country outside the Ibero-American group, according to the Spanish government.

How Spanish nationality is lost today

Article 11(2) of the Constitution stops the state depriving a Spaniard of origin of nationality. It doesn’t stop the Civil Code treating nationality as lost through the person’s own choices or inaction. Article 24 sets out how.

  • Article 24.1, voluntary acquisition. An emancipated Spaniard who habitually lives abroad and voluntarily acquires another nationality loses Spanish nationality three years after acquiring it, unless they declare to the Civil Registry within that time that they want to keep it.
  • Article 24.1, exclusive use. The same applies, three years after emancipation, to someone who lives abroad and uses only a foreign nationality they held before emancipation. This is the rule that reaches people born with both nationalities.
  • Article 24.2, renunciation. An emancipated Spaniard who has another nationality and habitually lives abroad loses Spanish nationality by expressly renouncing it.
  • Article 24.3, the second generation abroad. A person born and living abroad, Spanish through a parent also born abroad, whose country of residence gives them its nationality, loses Spanish nationality unless they declare that they want to keep it within three years of majority or emancipation.

Article 24.4 adds that none of these losses happens if Spain is at war. Spaniards who aren’t Spanish by origin face further rules in article 25. They lose nationality by using only the renounced nationality for three years, or by voluntarily entering foreign military service or holding political office in a foreign state against an express government ban. A final judgment of falsehood, concealment or fraud in acquiring nationality makes the acquisition void, and the prosecutor has fifteen years to bring that action.

The countries on Spain’s list, and the US isn’t one

Article 24.1 says acquiring the nationality of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal isn’t enough to lose Spanish nationality of origin under that paragraph. Article 23(b) exempts people from those same countries, and Sephardim originally from Spain, from the renunciation.

France was added by treaty, not by changing the Code. An Instruction of 31 March 2022 from Spain’s Directorate General for Legal Certainty and Public Faith says the convention extends articles 23 and 24 to France, and that Spaniards who lost nationality by becoming French before it took effect can recover it without residence in Spain.

The Spanish government also lists dual nationality treaties with Chile (1958), Peru (1959), Paraguay (1959), Nicaragua (1961), Guatemala (1961), Bolivia (1961), Ecuador (1964), Costa Rica (1964), Honduras (1966), the Dominican Republic (1968), Argentina (1969) and Colombia (1979). The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia aren’t on any of these lists, so the ordinary rules apply to their citizens.

What descendants claiming by descent need to know

The first question is whether you’re already Spanish by origin, or would be acquiring nationality. That decides whether you renounce.

  1. Was a parent Spanish when you were born? Article 17.1(a) makes you Spanish by origin, wherever you were born. The renunciation in article 23 covers only option, letter of nature and residence, so it doesn’t apply. But compare your age and your parent’s birthplace with articles 24.1 and 24.3 before you assume you still hold it.
  2. Was a parent originally Spanish and born in Spain, but no longer Spanish at your birth? Article 20.1(b) lets you opt at any age. That’s an acquisition, so article 23 applies: you swear or promise loyalty to the King and obedience to the Constitution and laws, declare that you renounce your previous nationality if you aren’t exempt, and register the acquisition.
  3. Was a grandparent originally Spanish? Article 22.2(f) cuts the residence needed to naturalise to one year of legal, continuous residence in Spain immediately before you apply. Article 23 applies here too. The window under the Democratic Memory Law has closed; see our guide on Spanish citizenship through grandparents.
  4. Did an ancestor naturalise abroad, and when? Check the date against the list above. A Spaniard who took US citizenship in 1960 falls under a different rule from one who took it in 1985, and in the 1980s the emigration exception may matter. Our guide to USCIS naturalisation records shows how to find the date, and how to prove an ancestor never naturalised covers the other side.

One protection is worth knowing. Under article 18, ten years’ continuous possession and use of Spanish nationality, in good faith and based on a title in the Civil Registry, consolidates the nationality even if the title is later annulled.

Keeping Spanish nationality in practice

The Code requires a declaration to the person in charge of the Civil Registry, and abroad that’s the consulate. A signed declaration isn’t the only way to show the wish, though. The Spanish Embassy in Berlin, in guidance updated on 8 April 2026, says:

  • Dual since childhood: you can sign a declaration, or show the wish indirectly by applying for a Spanish passport or DNI between 18 and 21, or holding a valid one in that period. Citing a 2019 Supreme Court judgment, it says applying for a passport, or holding a valid one, in those years shows the will to stay Spanish. After 21 with no declaration, it says Spanish nationality is lost.
  • Naturalised as an adult: the declaration, or the indirect route of keeping a Spanish passport or DNI valid, has to fall within three years of acquiring the foreign nationality.
  • Who it covers: the first section applies to people born after 9 January 1985. Anyone older is told to ask the embassy.

This is one embassy’s guidance for people in its own area, and it also says the procedure requires consular registration there. Treat it as a strong indication of how Spain applies the rule, and confirm with your own consulate. The signed declaration is the safest proof, because it leaves a record in the Civil Registry.

If you lost Spanish nationality

Article 26 sets three conditions for recovery: be a legal resident in Spain, declare to the Civil Registry that you want Spanish nationality back, and register the recovery. The residence requirement doesn’t apply to emigrants or the children of emigrants, and in other cases the Justice Minister can waive it in exceptional circumstances. Renunciation isn’t among the conditions. People who fall within article 25 need a discretionary government authorisation first.

Americans who renounce under article 23

Article 23(b) requires the person to declare that they renounce their previous nationality. It’s a requirement for the Spanish acquisition to be valid. A grant by letter of nature or residence also lapses if you don’t appear within 180 days of notification to meet the article 23 requirements (article 21.4).

On the US side, loss of citizenship is governed by 8 U.S.C. 1481, which requires a voluntary act done with the intention of giving up US nationality. The State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual says Americans who naturalise abroad or take a routine oath of allegiance don’t automatically lose citizenship, and that an intent to keep it is presumed. It also says a person who tells a consular officer afterwards that they intended to give it up will lose it. The passage we read doesn’t deal with a declaration like Spain’s, so we can’t say how an officer would treat yours. If keeping US citizenship matters to you, ask a US consular officer or an immigration lawyer before you sign.

Spain’s Code then adds its own consequence. A Spaniard who isn’t Spanish by origin loses Spanish nationality by using only the renounced nationality for three years. So keep using your Spanish documents.

Is Spain changing the rules?

We found no live bill to change these articles. On 27 October 2025 the SUMAR group filed a bill that would have deleted the renunciation in article 23(b) and limited article 24.1 to people who expressly declare that they renounce Spanish nationality. The Congress of Deputies’ record shows it as lapsed (caducado) from 6 October 2026, so it’s not going ahead in that form and today’s rules stand.

The US side

The US doesn’t encourage dual nationality, but it recognises the status. The Foreign Affairs Manual says that when you’re in the other country of your dual nationality, that country has a predominant claim on you, and that US citizens must leave and enter the United States on a US passport, with limited exceptions. More on this is in European citizenship by descent for Americans.

Practical steps

  1. Work out your category. Are you Spanish by origin, or would you be acquiring nationality? Use the Spanish citizenship by descent guide to see which route applies.
  2. Put the dates in order. List your date of birth, your parent’s birthplace, your 18th birthday and any naturalisation date. Our document chain guide covers the paperwork.
  3. If you’re inside a three-year window, act now. Sign the declaration at your consulate, and keep a Spanish passport or DNI valid as well.
  4. If the window has passed, ask the consulate whether you still hold nationality, and if not, whether you count as an emigrant or the child of an emigrant under article 26.
  5. Before any article 23 declaration, take advice on the US position.

To check whether you have a claim at all, use our free citizenship by descent checker. For other countries, see dual citizenship by descent, country by country, including Portuguese dual citizenship.

Frequently asked questions

Does Spain allow dual citizenship with the USA?

Only in part. There’s no treaty with the US, and it isn’t on the Civil Code’s list of protected countries. A Spaniard by origin can hold both, but one who lives in the US must show within a three-year window that they want to stay Spanish, or Spanish nationality ends. An American who acquires Spanish nationality by option or residence has to declare that they renounce their previous nationality.

Do I have to give up US citizenship to claim Spanish citizenship by descent?

It depends on the route. If a parent was Spanish when you were born, you are Spanish by origin under article 17, and article 23’s renunciation requirement doesn’t apply, because it only covers option, naturalisation by letter of nature and residence. If you opt under article 20.1(b) because a parent was originally Spanish and born in Spain, or naturalise after a year’s residence as a grandchild, article 23 applies and Americans aren’t exempt.

I’m Spanish and I became a US citizen as an adult. What do I have to do?

If you live in the US, declare that you want to keep Spanish nationality to the Civil Registry, in practice at your consulate, within three years of becoming American. If you don’t, you lose it when the three years end. The Spanish Embassy in Berlin says, for its own area, that keeping a Spanish passport or DNI valid also counts as an indirect declaration. Ask your own consulate how it treats this.

What is Spain’s age-21 rule?

It applies if you were born abroad, live abroad, are Spanish through a parent also born abroad, and your country of residence gives you its nationality. Under article 24.3 you lose Spanish nationality unless you declare that you want to keep it within three years of reaching majority. The Spanish Embassy in Berlin puts the window at 18 to before 21, and says applying for or holding a valid Spanish passport or DNI in that period also counts.

My Spanish parent was born in Spain and I was born in the US. Does the deadline apply to me?

Article 24.3 doesn’t, because your parent wasn’t born abroad. But article 24.1 can. A Spaniard who lives abroad and uses only the foreign nationality they held before emancipation loses Spanish nationality three years after emancipation, unless they declare that they want to keep it. The Spanish Embassy in Berlin treats both rules together for dual nationals since childhood, and says those born before 9 January 1985 should ask it.

I lost Spanish nationality. Can I get it back and keep US citizenship?

Possibly. Article 26 lets a former Spaniard recover nationality by declaring it and registering it. Legal residence in Spain is required, except for emigrants and children of emigrants, and the Justice Minister can waive it in exceptional circumstances. Article 26 doesn’t list renunciation as a condition, and article 23 only covers option, letter of nature and residence.

What happens if I renounce US citizenship on paper for Spain but keep using my US passport?

The Civil Code requires a declaration of renunciation made to the Spanish registry, which isn’t the same as losing US citizenship under US law. But article 25 says a Spaniard who isn’t Spanish by origin loses Spanish nationality if, for three years, they use only the nationality they declared they were giving up. So use your Spanish documents as well. Ask a US consular officer before you sign anything if you want to keep US citizenship.

Official sources

Checked against these sources on 6 November 2026. The Civil Code and BOE texts were read directly in Spanish and the translations are ours. We didn’t read the Supreme Court judgment itself, so it’s described here as the Spanish Embassy in Berlin describes it. Only the Spanish Civil Registry and the courts can decide your case; confirm with your consulate before you rely on this.