Spain’s citizenship test handbook full of ‘unfortunate’ errors due to ‘computer glitch’

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The CCSE exam has 25 questions which cover Spanish Government, citizens’ rights, geography, history, traditions and daily life in Spain. The questions normally take the form of multiple choice and true/false.

The citizenship test is devised and administered by The Cervantes Institute, which also provides a handbook for applicants to study.

According to the Spanish paper, El País, the 2022 handbook, published in November 2021, was full of errors.

Candidates were told that the death penalty still exists in Spain despite the punishment being completely abolished, even in war conditions, in 1995.

They were also told that the Prime Minister of Spain was Mariano Rajoy. The ex-leader’s Government lost a no confidence vote in 2018.

The Cervantes Institute told El País it had now corrected the handbook’s errors and blamed a “computer glitch” for the issue.

Taking the CCSE costs applicants €85 (£72) and the exam must be completed within 45 minutes.

Applicants need to answer 15 of the 25 questions right to pass the Spanish citizenship test.

El País reported errors in 12 of the 300 questions included in the handbook, making five percent of the test questions wrong.

The handbook errors were allegedly caused by a computer program preserving old multiple choice answers.

The Cervantes Institute said the errors were an “unfortunate mistake” and admitted it could have serious consequences.

Other errors in the textbook told applicants that primary education was not free in Spain and gave the wrong information on driver’s licences.

While the Spanish citizenship test can be challenging, experts have said that the UK citizenship test is far more complicated.

Some expats said that if people study (from a book with the correct answers) they should be able to pass the Spanish test.

Applicants will also need to take a Spanish language test to qualify for citizenship in Spain.

The citizenship test is normally not as specific as the UK citizenship test which two thirds of British people would fail according to a recent study.

Applicants were asked the height of the London Eye, Anglo Saxon poetry and trivia about shampoo on the sample test.

It is not possible for UK citizens to have dual citizenship in Spain, according to the British Embassy Facebook page, Brits in Spain.

It said: “Spain only recognises dual citizenship with a select number of countries who are judged to fulfil the requirement set out in the Spanish constitution of having a ‘close/special relationship with Spain’ e.g. Latin American countries that were previously under Spanish rule.

“It does not recognise dual citizenship with the UK.”

However, British people would still be considered dual nationals when in the UK if they apply for Spanish citizenship.

The British Embassy recommends Britons seek professional legal advice before starting a Spanish citizenship application.

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