MARRIAGE IN SPAIN
Reference :UK GovIt is perfectly possible to be married in Spain but one of the parties must be a resident. There is quite a lot of paperwork. Some evidence must be provided that the two parties are single, such as a certificate from the civil registry of your home country. Birth certificates are required.
A widow or widower will have to present both the original marriage certificate and a death certificate from the deceased spouse. A divorced person will need to present evidence of a valid divorce.
All of these documents must be officially translated into Spanish and accompanied by the Certificate of Apositlle (an “apostille” is an annotation), which verifies them. This internationally recognised certificate is issued by different authorities in different countries.
The marriage is heald as the Spanish Civil Registry office, with the local judge presiding, although town mayors and deputised municipal councillors are also authorised to perform civil wedding ceremonies.
It has become rather trendy, in fact, for couples to be married in places like Marbella, where the town hall has arranged a special and attractive wedding in a municipal park.
If you are interested in being married in Spain and are not resident, be warned that you will have to come in person to present and sign all the forms and i twill take about 30 days before these are processed and you can be married.
Roman Catholics, even though not Spanish, may also be married in church, following the practice outlined above for civil marriage along with the usual practise of the Roman Catholic Church. Each partner will present a baptismal certificate and declaration from their former parish priest that they adhere to the Roman Catholic faith and they are free to marry. After the ceremony, the priest gives the couple a certificate or marriage, which makes them man and wife, but they must still present this certificate at the Civil Registry to get an official marriage certificate.
If you marry a Spaniard, you receive a Libro de Familia, the “Family Book”, which is very important document in Spanish life. It is the official registration of husband and wife and their children. Spaniards present it : when they come of age and get their own identity cards ; for identification to the Social Security officials ; when they marry ; and when they die.
If you marry a Spanish person, you do not automatically become Spanish. A husband or wife will have to apply for Spanish nationality, which should be routinely granted, but does not come automatically.
MARRYING IN GIBRALTAR
Gibraltar is less complicated alternative for wedding-bound couples of most nationalities. Forms are available at consulates in Spain, or in your home country on which the parties to the marriage enter their personal details and apply for a special marriage licence from the Governor of Gibraltar.
Again, the divorced or widowed will need to produce the appropriate certificates mentioned above. When the licence is granted, the couple may go to Gibraltar and be married in the registry office there. They will need two witnesses.
COMMON LAW COUPLES IN SPAIN
There is no « common law » marriage in Spain, That is, a couple may live together for many years as man and wife and have children together, but this establishes no legal rights for either the man or the woman.
If the man dies, the woman has no claim to inherit any share of his property or to collect his pension. In the eyes of the law, there is no legal relationship.
Unless the man formally recognised the children as his own, he is not required to bequeath his property to them.
The law regards these children as Offspring of a single mother. Their births must be registered as such and they take their mother’s two last names because she is their only legal parent.
If the unmarried father of the children chooses to leave parts of his estate to his unrecognised children, they will not have the right to apply the lower inheritance tax rate enjoyed by children of married parents, except in some autonomous regions, such as Andalusia.