CREMATION IN SPAINIf
your preference is cremation, you will find crematorium available in
many areas of Spain. Cremation was almost unknown a few years ago but is
now quite common.
One peculiarity of the cremation procedure is
that family members are not allowed to attend the cremation itself.
They may hold a religious service before the cremation, with the body
present, or after it, with the urn.
Cremation costs around 400 euros as a minim but prices are steadily rising.
For
those who choose to donate their bodies to medical science, any medical
school in Spain will be very pleased to make the arrangements in
advance. Simply telephone the medical school and declare your
intentions. Their only condition are that the body be available within
24 hours of death and that the death was not caused by an infectious
disease or an accident which requires autopsy.
The usual custom
in Spain, where it is hot and bodies are seldom embalmed, is to bury the
day after death. This is custom, not law. The law says only that a body
may not be interred sooner than 24 hours after the death has occurred.
Where
there is no cold storage, it must be buried within 72 hours. Where
there is a cold storage available, this limit does not apply.
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