Dual nationality: between passport and European identity card.

Portugal and Spain and the colonial echoes

Portugal and Spain still feel the effects of colonial times. The two Iberian countries have always been generous regarding nationality—sometimes even excessively so. Both grant or accept dual or multiple nationalities with relative ease, especially to citizens of their former colonies. This generosity contrasts sharply with Japan's nationality policy, where it is nearly impossible to hold dual citizenship. Anyone acquiring another citizenship must renounce their Japanese citizenship. Or with Switzerland, where one must live there for years, demonstrate integration, speak the language fluently, and not have committed serious crimes.

In these countries, nationality is the result of a journey of belonging — not a shortcut.

The recent law and the need for consistency.

The new Nationality Law, approved by the Portuguese Parliament at the end of 2025, simplifies the process of obtaining citizenship for those who legally live in Portugal or were born here and have foreign parents residing there for more than five years. At the same time, it reinforces the transparency mechanisms in the processes. It is an important civilizational step, but it leaves an open question: if a person from another country who has become Portuguese can lose their nationality by judicial decision in cases of fraud, shouldn't a natural-born Portuguese citizen also be able to lose it by court order in similar cases—especially when committing very serious crimes against humanity or attacking the basic principles of the democratic rule of law? Perhaps we should at least have the courage to discuss the balance between equal rights and responsibilities for all, new or old citizens, and prevent nationality from being a privilege without duties. In the event of loss of nationality, the decision should rest with a court independent of the democratic state. And it should apply equally to someone who received nationality this year and to someone who has had it for a hundred years.

It's not about closing doors, but about deciding whether nationality should be a bridge that unites people or just an administrative document.

The weight of war and the sense of belonging.

The war in Ukraine shows that nationality is not something one chooses at random—it's a matter of life or death. Russia invaded a country it does not recognize as sovereign, denying it the right to exist. Many young people are fleeing mandatory military service, while many elderly people are enlisting voluntarily to defend their land, the language of their grandparents, their homes, and the memory of their ancestors.

People don't fight for the flag or the anthem, but for family, for their brothers and sisters, for their own home, and for the words inherited from their ancestors. That's what gives meaning to nationality.

Citizenship, nationality, and the personal case.

Shortly before turning 18, around 1980, the Portuguese police informed me that I could not have dual nationality. They told me to choose one. I refused. I obeyed the law and enlisted in both armies — the Portuguese and the Spanish. In the end, both exempted me: I was studying at university and no longer met the age requirement for military service.

My refusal to choose was, unknowingly, a small form of resistance against the persistent influence of two dictatorships that wanted to divide what has always been my identity.

Dual nationality and its contradictions

Dual nationality can bring opportunities, but also abuses and contradictions. Some people manage to marry two different people in different countries, using separate passports. Others declare that they live in poverty in one European country to receive social benefits, but own property or businesses in their other country of nationality. Even if these are isolated cases, they show the need to create clear rules to prevent dual nationality from becoming an instrument of convenience.

The nine million immigrants of the Iberian Peninsula

Today, around nine million immigrants live in the Iberian Peninsula. Most work, contribute to the economy, raise children, and fully embrace the language and culture. But there are also those who use their nationality solely as a way to gain economic advantages. I argue that dual nationality should only exist between countries of the European Union or between those that use the euro as currency. The European Union is, above all, a space where people are free, can move freely, have equal rights, and are defended collectively.

The granting of Portuguese or Spanish nationality to citizens from outside the European Union should require objective proof of a real connection: marriage or de facto union with an Iberian national, ownership of a home or mortgage in a Portuguese or Spanish bank, or a permanent employment contract in one of these countries.

Shared responsibility

If a foreigner who acquires Portuguese nationality can, under aggravated circumstances, lose it, then it is also fair that a natural-born Portuguese citizen can be punished with the loss of nationality in extreme cases—for acts that betray the fundamental principles of the democratic rule of law. This symmetry is not a punishment, but proof of democratic maturity. Nationality cannot be a refuge for impunity. Loyalty is the first requirement for belonging to a country.

Epilogue: Being European

To be European is to live with a dual loyalty — to freedom and to shared responsibility with other Europeans. The European Union is the ideal space to share sovereignty without losing identity. This balance is only possible when rights and duties are symmetrical. Dual nationality should not be a shield, but a mirror.

Portugal and Spain should see each other as mature brothers, aware that nationality is not just a passport, but a living heritage — part of the soul of a continent that still believes in itself.