Same-sex marriage in Spain facts for kids

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Spain since July 3, 2005. In 2004, the nation's newly elected government, led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of the Socialist Workers' Party, began a campaign to legalize same-sex marriage, including the right of adoption by same-sex couples. After much debate, a law permitting same-sex marriage was passed by the Cortes Generales (the Spanish Parliament, composed of the Senate and the Congress of Deputies) by a vote of 187–147 on June 30, 2005, and published on July 2. The law took effect the next day, making Spain the third country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry on a national level, after the Netherlands and Belgium, and 17 days ahead of the right being extended across all of Canada.

Roman Catholic authorities were adamantly opposed, criticising what they regarded as the weakening of the meaning of marriage, despite support from 66% of the population. Other associations expressed concern over the possibility of lesbian and gay couples adopting children. After its approval, the conservative People's Party challenged the law in the Constitutional Court.

Approximately 4,500 same-sex couples married in Spain during the first year of the law. Shortly after the law was passed, questions arose about the legal status of marriage to non-Spaniards whose country did not permit same-sex marriage. A decision from the Justice Ministry stated that the country's same-sex marriage law allows a Spanish citizen to marry a non-Spaniard regardless of whether that person's homeland recognizes the union. At least one partner must be a Spanish citizen in order to marry, although two non-Spaniards may marry if they both have legal residence in Spain.

The November 2011 general election delivered a landslide victory to the People's Party, whose leader Mariano Rajoy said he opposed same-sex marriage, but any decision about repealing the law would be made only after the ruling of the Constitutional Court. On November 6, 2012, the law was upheld by the court with 8 support votes and 3 against. Minister of Justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón announced that the government will abide by the ruling and the law will not be repealed.

Politician Pedro Zerolo was one of the most important LGBT activists in the history of Spain and one of the biggest promoters of extending the right to marriage and adoption to same-sex couples in the country.

Marriage statistics

Gay march celebrating 2005 Pride Day and the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Spain

According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), more than 62,000 same-sex marriages took place up to the end of 2021: 1,269 in 2005, 4,313 in 2006, 3,193 in 2007, 3,149 in 2008, 3,082 in 2009, 3,193 in 2010, 3,540 in 2011, 3,455 in 2012, 3,071 in 2013, 3,275 in 2014, 3,738 in 2015, 4,320 in 2016, 4,637 in 2017, 4,870 in 2018, 5,108 in 2019, 3,112 in 2020, and 5,035 in 2021.

Most same-sex marriages in 2018 were performed in Catalonia at 987, followed by Madrid at 956, Andalusia at 774, Valencia at 589, the Canary Islands at 333, the Balearic Islands at 194, the Basque Country at 191, Murcia at 145, Castilla-La Mancha at 135, Galicia at 124, Castile and León at 92, Aragon at 68, Extremadura at 66, Asturias and Navarre at 50 each, Cantabria at 41, La Rioja at 24, Melilla at 7 and Ceuta at 2. Another 42 were performed abroad in Spanish consulates.

Figures for 2020 are much lower than previous years because of the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notable weddings

A same-sex marriage between two men, Pedro Díaz and Muño Vandilaz, occurred in Rairiz de Veiga on 16 April 1061. They were married by a priest at a small chapel. The historic documents about the church wedding were found at Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova.

Although not an official same-sex marriage, in 1901 Marcela Gracia Ibeas and Elisa Sanchez Loriga married at the Igrexa de San Xurxo in A Coruña by Elisa secretly being re-baptized as a man.

Since its legalization in 2005, couples from across sections of Spanish society have entered into same-sex marriages. Within the first year the law received royal assent, Pedro Zerolo, influential Socialist member of the Madrid City Council, married Jesús Santos in October, and popular television presenter Jesús Vázquez married Roberto Cortés in November. In October 2005, Spain's prominent anti-terrorism judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska married his fiancé Gorka Gómez. In August 2006, Ourense City Councilor Pepe Araujo, whose party originally opposed the law, married his fiancé Nino Crespo. In September 2006, Alberto Linero Marchena and Alberto Sánchez Fernández, both army soldiers assigned to the Morón Air Base near Seville, became Spain's first military personnel to marry under the new law. In August 2008, Doña Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia and three-time Grandee of Spain (branded the Red Duchess for her socialist activism) became the highest ranking Spanish noble to marry in an articulo mortis (deathbed) wedding to longtime companion Liliana Maria Dahlmann, now the Dowager Duchess of Medina Sidonia by right of her late wife.

In June 2015, Mayor Javier Maroto of the Basque capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz announced his engagement to longtime partner Josema Rodríguez. The wedding was held on September 18, 2015 at Vitoria-Gasteiz City Hall. Maroto, a member of the conservative People's Party's national board, is known for his views contrary to the stance of his own party pertaining to same-sex marriage in Spain. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who had challenged the law approving same-sex marriage when he was opposition leader, attended the wedding celebrations as a guest.

Religious performance

Marriage in Spain may be contracted by religious or civil authorities. Religious marriages are recognised by the State and have the same status as civil marriages.

Most major Christian denominations in Spain do not perform same-sex marriages in their places of worship. Some small Christian churches such as the Metropolitan Community Church perform blessings of same-sex marriages. The Spanish Evangelical Church (IEE) adopted a resolution in 2015 calling for the acceptance of same-sex unions. The move was widely criticised by the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain, of which the IEE is a member, which chose to maintain the IEE as a member while also adopting a motion preventing any church supporting same-sex unions to be admitted as a member in the future.

Public opinion

A poll by the government-run Centre for Sociological Investigations (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas), published in April 2005, reported that 66% of Spaniards favoured legalising same-sex marriage. Another poll taken by Instituto Opina a day before the bill passed placed support for the same-sex marriage bill at 62.1% and support of adoption by same-sex couples at 49.1%. An Instituto Opina poll taken nine months after the bill had passed showed that 61% agreed with the legalization.

On July 25, 2007, the BBVA Foundation published their report Social portrait of Spanish people, which showed that 60% of Spain's population supported same-sex marriage. This support occurred mainly among the younger population, between 15 and 34 years old (75%), people with higher education (71%), people not attached to any religion (75.5%), and those identified by left and centre-left political views (71.9%). However, only 44% of the population favored the right of adoption by same-sex couples, in contrast to 42% opposition.

A May 2013 Ipsos poll found that 76% of respondents were in favour of same-sex marriage and another 13% supported other forms of recognition for same-sex couples. According to an Ifop poll conducted that same month, 71% of Spaniards supported allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

The 2015 Eurobarometer found that 84% of Spaniards thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 10% were opposed. A Pew Research Center poll, conducted between April and August 2017 and published in May 2018, showed that 77% of Spaniards supported same-sex marriage, 13% were opposed and 10% did not know or refused to answer. When divided by religion, 90% of religiously unaffiliated people, 79% of non-practicing Christians and 59% of church-attending Christians supported same-sex marriage. Opposition was 7% among 18–34-year-olds.

The 2019 Eurobarometer found that 86% of Spaniards thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 9% were opposed.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted between February and May 2023 showed that 87% of Spaniards supported same-sex marriage, 11% were opposed and 2% did not know or refused to answer. When divided by political affiliation, support was highest among those on the left of the political spectrum at 94%, followed by those at the center at 88% and those on the right at 82%.

See also

• First same-sex marriage in Spain
• LGBT rights by country
• LGBT rights in Spain
• Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe