Spanish Court Recognises Spanish Nationality of Stateless Child consequences of not having proof of birth: they will not be allowed to obtain any identity documents or have access to the nationality of any of the countries with which the child has a connection. The countries of connection are, firstly, the country of the mother. The consular authority of the country of the mother may consider itself incompetent to register the birth and recognise the nationality of the child. Consular authorities may only be competent to deal with children that are born in the country of destination/residence. Even though the law of the country of the mother may formally acknowledge its nationality to the child by descent — jus sanguinis — the consular office will refer such decision to the authorities in the country of origin. This would create additional requirements for accessing nationality which, in this case, would be impossible to fulfil. The child could not travel because they do not have a passport or travel documents. The second country of connection is the country of birth. The authorities of the country of birth may deny any connection with the child because there is no proof that the child was born in its territory. Furthermore, the country of birth will very likely not grant its nationality jus soli. The third country of connection is the country of destination/residence. The birth did not occur in its territory and, therefore, the national authorities may consider themselves incompetent to register it. The child would also not be acknowledged as a national because they do not satisfy the requirements set by the country’s legislation, whether it is a jus sanguinis or jus soli country. Therefore, these ‘invisible children’ will be stateless. In practice, this will result in a breach of their human rights, as children have the right to have an identity and a nationality and access education and national health services, among other rights. As some authors have noted, the lack of birth registration jeopardises the rights of these children.3 In the aforementioned judgments, the Spanish courts handled the case of an ‘invisible child’ for the first time. The courts, in ground-breaking rulings, concluded that Spanish nationality had to be given to the child as it was the only mechanism to remedy her statelessness and the breach of her fundamental rights. II FACTS In 2015, a Cameroonian woman gave birth to a girl in Agadir, Morocco, during her migratory journey to Europe. The birth occurred in a private house without any medical assistance. No birth certificate was issued. The mother could not register the birth of her daughter before any authority. Indeed, the consulate of Cameroon was far away (more than 550 km) and Morocco was a foreign, unknown and hostile country for her.4 In 2018, the mother and her daughter arrived at the coasts of southern Spain irregularly, by boat. They were sheltered in a specialist reception centre run in the city of Cordoba by the Ödos program, which assists migrant women who are 3 4 See, eg, Jacqueline Bhabha, ‘Arendt’s Children: Do Today’s Migrant Children Have a Right to Have Rights?’ (2009) 31 Human Rights Quarterly 410; Cristina Manzanedo Negueruela, ‘Menores Extranjeros Acompañados: La Problemática Invisible de los Niños y Niñas Migrantes Acompañados que Llegan a la Frontera sur Española’ (2019) 18 Revista Crítica Penal y Poder 260; José Alberto Navarro Manich and Laura Lozano García, ‘El Derecho de los “Niños Invisibles” a su Inscripción Después del Nacimiento y a Adquirir una Nacionalidad. La Obligación de Evitar la Apatridia Infantil’ (2021) 57 Actualidad Jurídica Uría Menéndez 23. Juzgado de Primera Instancia Judgment (n 2) 2. 317