Spain grants citizenship to more foreigners in 2016

MADRID, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The number of foreigners who were granted Spanish citizenship rose 32 percent to 150,944 in 2016, surpassed only by Italy with 201,591 people, according to a report published by Eurostat on Monday.

Eurostat highlighted that Spain granted citizenship to more Moroccans, Ecuadorians, Colombians, Bolivians, Peruvians and people originally from the Dominican Republic than any other European nation.

Due to geographic and cultural links, many of those granted Spanish nationality were from North Africa and Latin America, with 24.5 percent born in Morocco, 10.5 percent in Bolivia and 10.1 percent in Ecuador.

Morocco is just 14 km away from Spain's south coast across the Strait of Gibraltar. And Spain has traditionally close links with Latin America, sharing a common language with many of its countries. Enditem