A new Spanish law on "historical memory" has given the right to descendants of exiles of the fascist Franco regime to apply for Spanish - and EU - citizenship, with up to 500,000 people living mostly in Uruguay, Chili, Venezuela and Argentina expected to come forward, Spanish media report.
The measure particularly targets children and grandchildren of Spaniards who sought exile between July 1936 and December 1955. That period covers not only the country's 1936-1939 civil war but also part of the brutal dictatorship of general Francisco Franco that lasted until his death in 1975. Victims of both periods are recognized for the first time under the Law of Historical Memory, passed by parliament last year.
