Spain is still a traditional country and the marriage rate is very high compared with that of the Uk-most children are born in wedlock and the number of one parent families is relatively small.
But since the return of democracy and the decline in the day to day importance of the Catholic faith the number of couples living together is rising, especially in the north and in the main cities.
Religious weddings are still the norm here but civil weddings at venues other than churches e.g. Town halls and the registry office are gaining in popularity especially since the recent ruling which allows same sex couples to get married.
In fact Spain was the third country in the world to allow this in July 2005!
However, whatever the ceremony, the Civil Register still has to be signed and the couple have to make the decision as to what type of wedding contract they are going to choose.
There are two types “bienes gananciales” where all property, goods and money acquired during the wedding is held in common and ”seperacion de bienes” where each person keeps control of their own property, goods and money acquired during the marriage.
This system does away with a lot of the divorce type wrangling that can happen in other countries- the UK for example. The “libro de familia” is given to the couple after both types of ceremonies. This is an all-important document which is used to note down births of children and is proof of marriage-often necessary as Spanish women do not change their names on marriage.
Children are given two second names: the first is their father’s first surname and the second their mother’s first surname.
Confused? Basically, this means that the mother’s surname is still lost after the second generation!
Most couples here wait a long time before they get married. In proof, Spain has one of the oldest first birth rates and the oldest age of leaving home in Europe.
Couples are often engaged for years whilst they save, then buy or build a house, and then furnish it bit by bit-right down to the last set of bed linen!
But when the wedding happens no holds are barred!
Lots of the traditions associated with weddings are the same as ours, for example it is considered “mala suerte” for the groom to see the bride the night before the wedding and rice is thrown over the couple after the ceremony.. However, the bridal bouquet is given by the “padrino” to the bride; this is then thrown to the guests .
In theory the next girl to wed catches it.! The figurines from the top of the cake are also given to the couple most likely to get married next.
Spanish grooms should really give a bag of 13 pieces of gold to the bride (not always real of course!) It’s fairly clear what this is supposed to represent! Presents are normally given to all guests, perfumes for the ladies and normally a cigar for the chaps with the “anilla” or etiquette bearing the names of the couple and the date of the wedding.
Spain is a very noisy country and keeping with this cars accompanying the couple to the reception sound their horns continuously. The whole town knows when a wedding has taken place!
Finally we can’t finish without mentioning the honeymoon (luna de miel). Mexico and the Canaries are favourite destinations but Cuba is growing in popularity too.
Life continues afterwards, of course, but without all the expectations, a little more sedately.
