Spain grants citizenship to 170 descendants of International Brigaders

The Spanish government has granted citizenship to 170 descendants of volunteers who fought with the International Brigades during the civil war against Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.

- Stephen Burgen

right, with fellow International Brigaders in a photograph provided by his son Peter, who has been granted Spanish citizenship

An estimated 32,000 volunteers joined the antifascist brigades during the civil war, including approximately 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland, of whom 530 were killed.

At a ceremony in Madrid yesterday, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said of the new citizens: “It will be an honour to call them compatriots. We call for the defence of the same democracy as they did at a time when it is under threat around the world.”

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Franco, whose coup in July 1936 triggered the three-year conflict.