Cablegate: Spain: Child Marriage Survey

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

131525Z Apr 05

UNCLAS MADRID 001440

SIPDIS

G/IWI, EUR/PGI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ELAB PHUM PGOV SCUL SOCI KWMN
SUBJECT: SPAIN: CHILD MARRIAGE SURVEY

REF: STATE 36341

Spain does not have a significant child marriage problem.
Answers to the three survey questions follow.

A) According to Spanish law, both a man and a woman need to
be at least 18 years old to get married. If they are between
the ages of 14 and 18, they need the consent of a parent or
guardian.

B) Underage marriage is not a significant problem in Spain.
According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE),
541 underage girls and 71 underage boys married in 2002, the
most recent year of available data. Of the 612 underage
brides and grooms, thirteen girls and one boy were younger
than fifteen. These numbers are very small in a country of
42.6 million people. The Spanish daily El Pais reported on
April 9 that there are occasional unregistered marriages of
underage Roma who marry in a traditional Roma ceremony,
rather than via a Catholic or Protestant ceremony where the
weddings are registered by the government.

C) Because child marriage is not a significant problem in
Spain, there are not any significant U.S.-funded initiatives
in Spain to reduce child marriage.
MANZANARES

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