I have a question that I have not found anything related on any site that should only apply to this group of people: "People of origin from Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal or Sephardic, who are pursuing a PhD in Spain."

In many European countries such as Poland (where I reside) or Czech Republic (where a person I know resides) your studies as a master's or doctoral student (not undergraduate) count as half of residence time in these countries and in countries like The Netherlands, if you pursue a PhD (strictly a PhD), your years of residence are counted as full time residing in that place.

Due to the previous description, if you pursue a PhD in Poland or Czechia for 4 years, it means: "You have lived 2 years and if you learn Polish (B1+) and work for 3 years more then you are eligible for the permanent residence card."

And in The Netherlands, if you study 4 years, pass the integration test, work 1 year more and learn Dutch (B1+) you are eligible apply for the permanent residence card.

Now my question is:

What is the situation in Spain? Does the doctoral student's time count towards to your citizenship?

Because I read that in certain articles the following:

"In the case of nationals of origin of Ibero-American countries, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Portugal or Sephardim, they may apply for Spanish nationality at the time of serving two years of legal and continued residence in Spain , and immediately prior to the request."

The time as a "doctoral student" is not something clear in most of cases and less their status (in The Netherlands you get researcher's visa, not a student's one). And that makes sense because because in several countries (mostly European ones), a "doctoral student" is considered a researcher inside the universities, a kind of worker since they pay taxes and scholarships are uncommon (Canada, the US, Australia, etc. They are not the rule) because even in Marie Curie, which provides many of the EU scholarships, for instance, they are considered jobs not scholarships.