Spain scraps language test for elderly applicants for Jewish law of return

Spanish authorities dispense with language and culture tests for elderly applicants for citizenship under the country’s law of return for Sephardi Jews.

The decision comes after it emerged that it had effectively barred hundreds of elderly Turkish Jews from exercising their right to a Spanish passport, El Pais reported last week.

Spain has naturalized 4,919 applicants for citizenship by Sephardic Jews since the new 2013 citizenship law went into effect last year, according to the daily. However, only 387 applicants were granted citizenship based on the actual law. Others were naturalized by a royal decree and not through the non-discretionary procedure devised for the law.

The tests need to be taken in Spain, a fact which further complicates the ability even of elderly applicants who do speak Spanish and know the country’s culture to actually get tested, according to El Pais.

Karen Gerson Sharon of the Sephardic Center of Istanbul said the dispensation was “very welcome.”

— JTA