Matt84 said:yes, but it was also another less bureaurocratized time when people didn't really need to become citizens. i.e. some criollos only got their first IDs and voting papers when and if enlisted in the army.
I don't know. It seems to me the perma-tourists don't need papers either. I'm just bringing it up as it might relieve the anxiety of some perma-tourists. They can claim it's their constitutional right to live here...