Spain offers passports to Franco exiles

MADRID, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The children and grandchildren of Spaniards who fled their homes during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco can apply for citizenship, officials say.

Both former Spanish citizens and their descendants must apply for citizenship under a new law within the next two years, El Pais reported Monday online.

Some 500,000 are eligible for Spanish citizenship, according to Spanish authorities.

Critics of the new law said that it reignited old feelings of hatred for the Franco regime, which ended with his death in 1975.