German citizenship for Spaniards: dual nationality and the art. 24 CC clock

Citizenship is the point where the two legal systems in this story finally touch — and they run on two different clocks. Germany's clock is generous and simple: five years of lawful residence, B1 German, one test. Spain's clock is the one people miss: three years after you naturalise somewhere else, your Spanish nationality can lapse — unless you take one specific step, in a specific window, at a consulate. Get both clocks right and you hold two passports; get the second one wrong and you discover the problem years later, from a passport queue.

The German side: five years, B1, one test

The Spanish side: article 24 and the three-year window

Spanish law has its own answer to dual nationality, and it is not a blanket "yes" or "no": article 24 of the Civil Code says that a Spaniard who acquires another nationality loses the Spanish one after three years — unless they declare, within that window, the will to conserve it (declaración de conservación) before the Civil Registry. Spain has bilateral double-nationality treaties with a list of countries; Germany is not on it — the German missions say it plainly: there is no German–Spanish dual-nationality agreement. Which is exactly why the article 24 declaration is the mechanism that matters for you. Do it early at your consulate's Registro Civil — the appointment system, not the law, is what makes people late.

1. 01

   1. Naturalise in Germany

   File at your local Einbürgerungsbehörde when the five years, the B1 certificate and the test are in place. You leave with the German certificate — and the Spanish three-year window opens.

2. 02

   2. Declare conservation at your consulate

   Book the Registro Civil at the Spanish consulate that covers your residence and make the declaración de conservación de la nacionalidad española within the window. Ask the consulate for its current document list — requirements and booking systems change per office, and their page is the one that counts.

3. 03

   3. Keep both passports

   With the declaration made in time, the double nationality stands: German citizen, Spanish citizen, both passports renewable, full rights in both countries.

If the window lapses

Losing it is quieter than people expect: no letter arrives. The Spanish nationality lapses by operation of law three years after the acquisition if nothing was declared. The recovery road exists — article 26 of the Civil Code — but it runs through the Civil Registry again with its own conditions (residence in Spain among them, as the consulates' guidance sets out), and it is a project, not a form. The cheap move is the one made in time: declare first, celebrate later.

The myths, one by one

• "Spain does not allow dual nationality." False for your case: article 24's conservation declaration is precisely the legal instrument that lets a Spaniard keep the Spanish nationality after naturalising elsewhere.
• "You must renounce your Spanish passport." You must not — and Germany does not ask you to (multiple nationality since 27 June 2024).
• "There is a Spain–Germany dual-nationality treaty." There is not; the German missions say so directly. The conservation declaration is what bridges the two systems.
• "The three-year turbo still exists." It was abolished on 30 October 2025 — the standard clock is five years.
• "The naturalisation test can be taken in Spanish." It cannot: BAMF's catalogue is German-only. Prepare in German — the test is 17 correct out of 33, and the questions are public.

The last of the five Spanish guides: start at the front door, then exams, studying and Ausbildung — all in the Spain hub. If you want to see how the five-year clock lands on your own calendar, the citizenship calculator runs it.