The battle for the nationality of a Venezuelan teacher after almost 40 years in Spain | Spain
The retired professor Estela Carmona de Hanlon has witnessed the history of Spain in the last four decades. Since he set foot in Spanish territory in the mid -eighties, he has seen The ETA attack in the Hypercor in Barcelona in 1987the 1992 Olympic Games, the change from the peseta to the euro in 2002, 11-M attacks in Madrid in 2004the financial crisis of 2008 or 15-M, in 2011. Carmona was born in Maracaibo (Venezuela) 74 years ago, but has already lived more years in Spain than those that happened in his native country. The last five, paradoxically, has dedicated them to trying to make the Government grant him Spanish nationality, but until a few days ago he had encountered an unexpected response: he is not integrated enough. « This is my country, no matter how much the Ministry of Justice has denied me, » he says from the house where he lives more than 30 years ago in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, at whose university he was a head of the economy during those same 30 years.
Retrieved by the country, the Ministry of Justice announced that it would review the file again. Before the publication of this report, the Ministry confirmed that it had now admitted the appeal presented by Carmona four years ago and that it had signed the resolution by which Spanish nationality is granted.
The resolution that denied the nationality, signed by the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith – dependent on the Ministry of Justice – came to him on May 17, 2021, almost a year and a half after having requested it. The agency, responsible for the study of Citizenship applications, He rejected his request because the teacher « does not prove enough degree of integration in Spanish society. » The administration reproached that Carmona had not justified the basic knowledge of the Spanish language – which is its mother tongue – at an A2 or higher level and that had not presented the test that certifies the knowledge of the historical, constitutional and sociocultural values of Spain.
She didn’t give credit. Actually, being Venezuelan, the law exempts you from presenting an exam to obtain a Spanish diploma when asking for nationality. Regarding the proof of knowledge, the teacher has found that the literalness of the norm only exempts from that mandatory examination who has completed the ESO in Spain, a level of training that presupposes some knowledge of the institutions, constitutional values or values of the country. Although the teacher contributed her doctoral and business sciences title issued by the University of Barcelona, an academic level far higher than high school, did not work. And they did not allow him to amend it.
At the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Carmona was part of the teaching staff from 1991 until her retirement in 2020. During her passage through the institution she was Vice Dean of Economic Affairs of the Faculty of Legal Sciences, director of Internationalization, directed the Regional Economy Research Group and Economic Modeling for eight years and was director of Institutional Relations. As such, it has the title of career official issued by the University. In addition, between 2007 and 2011 he joined the first social council of Las Palmas de Gran Canariathe maximum body of participation and consultation of the city. « How can you miss integration into a society in which I have my own home, in which I have lived almost 40 years, in which I have forged an academic and institutional career? » He asks.
Before arriving in Spain, Carmona lived five years in Lancaster (United Kingdom), where he made a part of his training and married a citizen of that country, so he acquired British nationality, which he currently holds (the passport and his Venezuelan documentation did not renew them again). De Lancaster moved with her husband to Barcelona in 1986 and two years later she had her son, today, who currently lives in Tenerife with her partner. After a brief step through Valencia, they settled in Gran Canaria in the early nineties. She separated from her husband and never left the island. His closest friendships are there, political news continues in the islands and He delights with vegetable potajes and the sancocho. « I am more Canarian than the gofio, » he says, referring to typical roasted cereals in the Canary Islands.
In January 2020, with Brexit, The United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union was effective. With the British passport he has no problem traveling, but highlights that this is not his country, which feels Spanish and admires the European project. « I belong to this country, those are my feelings and they cannot deny me, » he defends. His son also requested Spanish nationality at the same time and the answer for him was the same, with the exception that he was allowed to amend the file and ended up performing to both tests. As absurd that seemed, although he was born in Spain and lived in the country most of his life, he had to overcome the Spanish exam and that of historical knowledge to obtain nationality.
Once Carmona received the denial of nationality, he resorted to that decision on June 16, 2021, almost four years ago. During that period, he has repeatedly sent consultations to the Ministry of Justice to investigate the state of its process. In the last response he received, last year, he was notified that, having spent more than a month since he presented his appeal, he understood « dismissed by administrative silence. » Carmona went to Ombudsman And last February he received the answer. The entity notified that the Secretary of State for Justice was taking even to respond to that institution and that it had again required it urgently.
On January 31 of this year, The country revealed the case of cancer researcher Carlos Eduardo Pedreiraof Brazilian origin, who had just won the battle for Spanish nationality to the Ministry of Justice in court, after seven years of struggle to demonstrate that it is integrated in Spain. Less than two weeks later, Pedro Sánchez He sent a letter to Pedreira in which he apologized for « the complex and laborious administrative and judicial procedure » that he had to go through to obtain nationality. In the same letter, the President of the Government said: « This fact, without a doubt, must lead to an internal reflection of procedures to prevent a case like yours can be repeated. »
Carmona read the news and knew that the researcher’s case was similar to his. On February 24, the country consulted the Ministry of Justice in the case of the teacher and the inconsistencies in her process. That portfolio replied that he would review the file and, finally, on Thursday, March 20, the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith signed the resolution by which nationality grants him.
