Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-10922879-20130617143901/@comment-11051098-20160603152407

I don't think Ichigo can be classified as an Espada.

As someone else wrote, I think Gran Rey Cero just happened to be a very powerful Cero that only the strongest Arrancars could use, or basically, the Espada.

In this part Hollow-form, I think Ichigo has just reached a level where his Hollow side is Espada-level, meaning that beside being able to use Cero, he is now strong enough to use Gran Rey Cero as well.