Any U.S. citizens who have obtained their Spanish citizenship?

[John]

Hi everybody.

I am a U.S. citizen and have been legally working in Spain for 5 years.  I was recently granted my 5 year residency permit (el permiso de residencia de larga duración), so in 2017 I will have legally lived and worked in Spain for a total of 10 years and be eligible to obtain Spanish citizenship.  It would be nice to be a Spanish citizen, as I would like to not have to worry about things like autorizaciones de regresos and making sure I do not stay out of the country too long, jeopardizing my chances to renew the work permit.  I have already started to look into the process and honestly it seems pretty straightforward except for the fact that Spain does not allow dual citizenship with the United States.   From what I gather looking on the web, if I were to obtain Spanish citizenship, I would have to declare before the Spanish authorities that I renounce my U.S. citizenship.  As a result, Spain would no longer recognize me as a U.S. citizen.  However, the U.S. would still recognize me as a U.S. citizen, since the only way to renounce my citizenship (besides doing something extreme like joining a foreign army which is at war with the U.S.  ) is to go the U.S embassy and formally renounce my citizenship.   

Are there any Americans out there who have gone through this experience?  Do you have any advice?  Does anyone know what kind of proof the Spanish government would need that I had renounced my U.S. citizenship?  Although I would like to have a Spanish passport with all the advantages that come along with it, I certainly would not want to give up my U.S. citizenship. 

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give me.

[ajnabiyya]

I haven't done it yet, but I'm planning on applying for Spanish citizenship next year. I'm an American married to a Spaniard, so I should be able to get Spanish citizenship after living in Spain for one year as a permanent resident. I wouldn't do it if I thought I'd lose my American citizenship, but my understanding is, as you say, that you do not lose American citizenship by renouncing it in front of Spanish authorities - to lose it you'd have to renounce it in front of American authorities, which we're not going to do. I'll confirm this at the American embassy before I actually apply for Spanish citizenship, and you should probably do the same, but my plan is to apply when I'm eligible - I'd love to be a Spaniard!

[John]

Thanks for the reply.  I will be very happy to hear how it goes, if you are willing to post about it.  Good luck!

[halydia]

I'm definitely interested in hearing, too!