Spain recognizes the work of defending freedom and democratic principles carried out by the volunteer members of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.

This recognition was already manifested in 1996, by granting them, by Royal Decree of 19 January, the right to acquire Spanish nationality by letter of nature. However, access to nationality through this route is subject to the requirement of having to renounce the previous one, so a good number of brigadistas did not make effective the acquisition of Spanish nationality.

Article 18 of Law 52/2007, known as the Historical Memory Law, once again recognized the work of the brigadistas in a syngularized manner and extended their right to Spanish nationality by eliminating the requirement of having to renounce their previous nationality.

Article 33 of Law 20/2022, on Democratic Memory, establishes the granting of Spanish nationality to volunteers who are members of the International Brigades.

• For the purposes of article 21.1 of the Civil Code, it is understood that exceptional circumstances exist in the case of the volunteer members of the International Brigades who participated in the War of 1936 to 1939 for the acquisition of Spanish nationality by letter of nature, the requirement of renouncing their previous nationality required in article 23.b) of the Civil Code not being applicable. Likewise, it will be understood that the same circumstances exist in the descendants of the brigadistas that demonstrate a continuous work of spreading the memory of their ascendants and the defense of democracy in Spain.
• The requirements and procedure to be followed for the acquisition of Spanish nationality by the persons mentioned in the previous section will be those established by regulations.