Same-sex marriage in Spain

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Spain since July 3, 2005. This means that two people of the same gender can get married just like any other couple. The idea to allow same-sex marriage started in 2004 when a new government came to power, led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He and his team worked hard to make this possible, and after many discussions, the Cortes Generales, Spain's Parliament, voted to allow it.

Spain became the third country in the world to let same-sex couples marry, after the Netherlands and Belgium. Many people in Spain supported this change, but some groups were not happy about it. Some worried about whether same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children. Even though there were different opinions, the law was passed and many couples got married right away.

After the law was made, there were questions about whether people from other countries could get married in Spain if their own countries did not allow same-sex marriage. Spain decided that as long as one person in the couple was a Spanish citizen or both had permission to live in Spain, they could get married there.

Later, Spain’s Constitutional Court had to decide if the law was right. In 2012, the court decided that the law was okay and it would stay. Even though some leaders changed and did not agree with same-sex marriage, the law remained in place, allowing same-sex couples to marry and live together as families.

Legal history

Spain began allowing same-sex couples to have some legal rights in 1994. Over the next years, many areas of Spain started letting unmarried couples, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, register their relationships. These registries were mostly symbolic but showed that the couples wanted their relationships recognized.

In 2004, the newly elected government, led by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, promised to change the law to allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. After much discussion, a law allowing same-sex marriage was passed by the Spanish Parliament on June 30, 2005, and it became official on July 3, 2005. Spain was the third country in the world to allow same-sex marriage nationwide.

The first same-sex wedding happened just eight days after the law was approved. More changes came in 2006 when the law was updated so that in a marriage between two women, both could be legally recognized as parents to any children they had together.

Royal same-sex weddings

In 2021, several European countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, said that royal family members could marry partners of the same sex without losing their royal titles or place in line to become king or queen. The Spanish government did not say anything about this.

In 2008, a very important Spanish noblewoman, Doña Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia, married her partner Liliana Maria Dahlmann.

In the same year, Queen Sofía of Spain said in a book that she preferred the words "civil union" to "marriage" for committed relationships between people of the same sex. This caused some criticism, and the palace later said sorry for comments that were reported in the book. Some people in the LGBT community still felt unhappy about what the Queen said. The King, who was known to have more modern views, was said to be very upset about the book.

Marriage statistics

According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute, 75,301 marriages between people of the same sex took place in Spain by the end of 2023. The number of these marriages was lower in 2020 because of rules put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2018, most of these marriages happened in Catalonia with 987, followed by Madrid with 956, Andalusia with 774, and Valencia with 589. Other places with marriages included the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country, and many more.

Notable weddings

Long ago, in the year 1061, two men named Pedro Díaz and Muño Vandilaz got married in a small chapel in Rairiz de Veiga. Some old papers about their wedding were found at the Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova.

Since same-sex marriage became allowed in Spain in 2005, many important people got married. In October 2005, Pedro Zerolo, a member of the Madrid City Council, married Jesús Santos. Popular TV host Jesús Vázquez married Roberto Cortés in November that same year. In 2015, Javier Maroto, the Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, got married to his partner Josema Rodríguez. Even the Prime Minister at the time, Mariano Rajoy, went to the wedding.

Religious performance

Marriage in Spain can be performed by religious leaders or by the government, and both types of marriages are treated the same under the law. However, most major Christian denominations in Spain do not perform same-sex marriages in their churches. Some smaller Christian groups, like the Metropolitan Community Church, do offer special blessings for same-sex couples.

The Catholic Church does not allow its priests to officiate at same-sex marriages. In late 2023, an official document from the Holy See allowed Catholic priests to give blessings to couples who are not married according to church rules, including same-sex couples. This caused some discussion among Catholic leaders in Spain. The first such blessing took place in a church in Miajadas in May 2024. Later that same month, a same-sex couple had a government marriage ceremony in a church in Talavera de la Reina, which also caused some debate among Catholics.

Public opinion

In 2005, many people in Spain supported allowing couples of the same sex to marry. Surveys showed that most younger people, those with more education, and those who did not follow a religion agreed with this idea. However, fewer people supported allowing these couples to adopt children.

Over time, support for same-sex marriage grew. By 2023, most Spaniards believed that couples of the same sex should be allowed to marry. Support was especially strong among people who were more left-wing in their political views.