Exiles get Spain passport chance

About 500,000 people whose families had to flee Spain during the civil war and the subsequent Franco era now have the right to apply for Spanish citizenship.

Spain's new Law of Historical Memory, enacted a year ago, applies to people whose mother or father was Spanish, and the grandchildren of those who fled.

They can start submitting applications for Spanish citizenship on Monday.

Most of those who qualify live in Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico and France.