SPAIN: CHILD MARRIAGE SURVEY

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