Marriage
Civil marriage from 18 (16 if emancipated), processed at the Civil Registry, before a notary or a court clerk and celebrated by a justice of the peace, the mayor, a councillor or the notary; open to same-sex couples since 2005; no residence requirement; registered religious marriages have civil effects.
| Age | 18; 16 if emancipated (the judicial dispensation at 14 was abolished in 2015) |
|---|---|
| Preliminary file | Civil Registry, notary or court clerk: birth certificates, proof of registered address (empadronamiento), declaration of marital status, ID; private interview |
| Ceremony | Justice of the peace, mayor or councillor, notary, court clerk; two adult witnesses |
Full detail: Marriage
Partnerships and cohabitation
Spain has no national law on unmarried couples (parejas de hecho): the seventeen autonomous communities have created their own registers and laws with unequal effects, and the State grants registered couples certain rights — the Social Security survivor's pension (registration two years before the death and five years of cohabitation), family reunification and the residence card for the family member of an EU citizen, employment leave — without equating them to marriage for income tax or inheritance. The civil laws of Catalonia, the Balearics, Navarre, the Basque Country, Galicia and Aragon give the stable couple inheritance rights and compensation on separation; under common Spanish law (the other communities, including Andalusia, Valencia, Madrid, Murcia and the Canaries, where most British residents live), the unmarried partner inherits nothing without a will and can only claim for unjust enrichment.
Many British couples in Spain are unmarried, often after earlier marriages, and assume that years of cohabitation give them rights: in most of the regions where they live, they do not. The regional register (pareja de hecho) is nevertheless worth doing — it opens the survivor's pension and is the key to a residence card for a non-EU partner of an EU citizen — but it is the will, drawn up before a Spanish notary, that protects the survivor.
A UK civil partnership is not recognised as such in Spain but is treated as a registered unmarried couple where a Spanish register would accept it; conversely a Spanish pareja de hecho registration has no legal status in the UK, where unmarried cohabitants have almost no rights either. For a British partner who is not an EU citizen, registration with an EU-citizen partner (Spanish or other) is the route to residence; two British partners need their own visas.
Key points
| Register | Regional (or municipal): prior cohabitation (generally one or two years) or a common child; ID, proof of address, declaration of will; free or nearly |
|---|---|
| National effects | Survivor's pension (registration two years before death and five years' cohabitation), family reunification, residence card as family member of an EU citizen, employment leave, healthcare |
| Regional effects | Inheritance and compensation in Catalonia, the Balearics, Navarre, the Basque Country, Galicia, Aragon; almost nothing under common law |
| No effect | Joint income tax return, matrimonial regime, surnames; intestate inheritance under common law |
| Dissolution | By declaration of one or both to the register; no compensatory pension unless agreed or provided by regional law |
| Children | Same rights as in marriage: parentage, custody, maintenance |
| Figures | More than two million unmarried couples; about 400,000 registered |
In practice
- Register with the regional register of unmarried couples (or the town hall where there is no regional register) using the joint padrón registration: it is free and opens the survivor's pension and family reunification.
- Sign before a notary a cohabitation agreement (sharing of expenses, home, compensation on separation) and a will: they are the only instruments that protect you under common law.
- Check which regional law applies (vecindad civil): in Catalonia or the Balearics the stable partner inherits and has compensation; in Madrid, Andalusia or Valencia, not.
- For the survivor's pension, registration must predate the death by two years and cohabitation must reach five: register early.
- The unmarried partner of an EU citizen obtains the EU family-member card with the registration certificate — the main route to residence for a British partner of a Spanish or other EU national since Brexit.
Cost and coverage
Registration free or a fee of a few tens of euros depending on the region; cohabitation agreement and will before a notary 100 to 300 euros.
Recent changes
The Constitutional Court (2014 judgment) struck down parts of the Navarrese and national laws that imposed effects without registration; the Social Security law reformed in 2022 removed the income requirement for the survivor's pension of unmarried couples. A national bill has been discussed for years without being passed.
Where to go
- Registers of unmarried couples of the autonomous communities and town halls.
- Social Security: survivor's pension for unmarried couples.
- Notaries: cohabitation agreements and wills.
- Ministry of Inclusion — immigration offices: EU family-member card.
Worth knowing
Under common Spanish law, the unmarried partner inherits nothing without a will and has no compensation on separation: registration gives rights against Social Security and the immigration office, not between the partners. A will and a notarial agreement are indispensable outside Catalonia, the Balearics, Navarre, the Basque Country and Galicia — that is, in every region where the British mainly live.
Frequently asked questions
We are a British unmarried couple living on the Costa del Sol: what protects the survivor?
Only a Spanish will (about 50 euros before a notary) leaving the free third and the usufruct of the home to the partner, plus registration as a pareja de hecho in Andalusia for the survivor's pension. Without a will, Andalusian (common) law gives the survivor nothing: the home passes to the deceased's children or parents. UK-domiciled couples should also consider choosing English law for the whole estate in that will, which allows full testamentary freedom.
Does registering as a pareja de hecho help with residence after Brexit?
Only if your partner is an EU citizen (Spanish or other): then you obtain the five-year family-member card. Two British partners gain nothing for residence from registration; each needs a residence document — the TIE under the Withdrawal Agreement if resident before 2021, otherwise a visa.
Is my UK civil partnership recognised in Spain?
Not as an equivalent of marriage. Some regional registers accept it as proof of a stable couple, giving the regional effects; for tax and inheritance you are unmarried partners under Spanish law. Couples who want marital effects marry — Spain has allowed same-sex marriage since 2005 and converting a civil partnership into a marriage in the UK is also possible.
Sources
- Social Security — survivor's pension for unmarried couples — requirements
- Civil Code of Catalonia — Book II, stable couples — Portal Jurídic de Catalunya
- Ministry of Inclusion — family member of an EU citizen — residence procedures
The general article: Partnerships and cohabitation · Compare with another country
Same-sex marriage
Law 13/2005 amended article 44 of the Civil Code: marriage has the same requirements and effects whether the spouses are of the same or different sex. Spain was the third country in the world to open it, with every effect: joint adoption, parentage (the mother's wife is the parent of a child born by assisted reproduction by consent before the Civil Registry, article 7.3 of Law 14/2006), survivor's pension, family reunification, nationality. The Constitutional Court upheld the law in 2012 (judgment 198/2012). Foreigners may marry in Spain if one of the two resides in the country, even if their national law does not allow it (Directorate-General of Registries resolution, 2005). Law 4/2023 (the 'trans law') and Organic Law 3/2007 complete the protection against discrimination; legal gender is changed by declaration since 2023.
Spain opened marriage nine years before England and Wales and remains one of the most accepting societies in Europe: Sitges, Torremolinos, Maspalomas and Madrid's Chueca are long-standing destinations, and British same-sex couples have married and retired along the coasts for two decades. Equality is complete on paper and in practice, including for parentage of children born to two mothers.
A same-sex marriage celebrated in Spain is fully recognised in the UK. A British couple resident in Spain marries there like any other couple (certificate of no impediment from the UK register office, apostilled and translated); a UK civil partnership gives no marital rights in Spain, so couples who hold one often marry. Children born in Spain to two married mothers are registered with both from birth; the UK recognises that birth certificate.
Key points
| Opening | 3 July 2005 (Law 13/2005) |
|---|---|
| Effects | Identical to opposite-sex marriage: joint adoption, parentage, pensions, reunification, nationality |
| Parentage | Two mothers by consent before the Civil Registry for children born by assisted reproduction (married or not since 2015); two fathers only by adoption |
| Foreigners | May marry in Spain if one of them resides in the country, even where their national law forbids it |
| Recognition | Recognised throughout the EU for residence (Coman) and in the UK; not in countries that do not admit it |
| Figures | About 4,000 to 5,000 marriages a year, 3 % of the total; more than 70,000 since 2005 |
| Context | Law 4/2023 against discrimination; aggravated hate crimes; legal gender by declaration since 2023 |
In practice
- The procedure is that of civil marriage (see that page): file at the Civil Registry, before a notary or court clerk, and ceremony before the mayor, justice of the peace, notary or clerk.
- For a couple of women, the parentage of a child born by assisted reproduction is registered with the wife's consent before the Civil Registry, without adoption.
- For a couple of men, parentage passes through adoption or, for children born by surrogacy abroad, through registration of the foreign judgment, under strict Supreme Court criteria (2022 and 2024).
- Foreign couples whose country does not recognise the marriage should know that their Spanish marriage will not be valid there; within the EU and the UK it is.
- Marriage to a Spaniard gives the foreign spouse the EU family-member card and, after one year of residence, the possibility of nationality.
Cost and coverage
Those of civil marriage: free at the Civil Registry and most town halls; 150 to 300 euros before a notary.
Recent changes
Law 4/2023 strengthened protection against discrimination and allowed parentage for unmarried female couples; the Supreme Court's 2022 judgment on surrogacy tightened the requirements for registering children born abroad. Twenty years of equal marriage were celebrated in 2025.
Where to go
- Civil Registry, town halls and notaries: marriage.
- Ministry of Equality — Directorate-General for Sexual Diversity and LGTBI Rights.
- FELGTBI+ (Spanish federation of LGTBI associations): information and support.
- British consulates: documents for marriage (certificate of no impediment is obtained in the UK).
Worth knowing
Spain marries foreign same-sex couples if one of them lives in the country, but the marriage will have no effect in countries that do not recognise it. For British couples there is no issue: both countries recognise each other's marriages. The one area of divergence is surrogacy, banned in Spain and lightly regulated in the UK: children born abroad by surrogacy are registered in Spain only under strict conditions.
Frequently asked questions
We are a British same-sex couple: can we marry in Spain?
Yes, if at least one of you is registered as resident (empadronado) in a Spanish municipality, with the same documents as any couple: UK certificate of no impediment, birth certificate, proof of marital status, all apostilled and translated by a sworn translator. The marriage is fully valid in the UK without any registration there.
Is our UK civil partnership worth anything in Spain?
Very little: it is not a marriage and Spain has no national civil partnership. For pensions, tax and inheritance you are treated as unmarried; some regional registers of unmarried couples accept it as proof of a stable relationship. Converting it into a marriage in the UK, or marrying in Spain, gives full marital rights.
Our child was born in Spain to two mothers — what about the UK?
The Spanish birth certificate naming both mothers is accepted in the UK for passports and citizenship purposes when at least one mother is British; the child is British by descent if the British mother is the birth mother or was married to her at the time of the treatment, under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act rules. Check with the passport office before travelling.
Sources
- Law 13/2005 — same-sex marriage — BOE
- Constitutional Court — judgment 198/2012 — text
- Ministry of Equality — LGTBI rights — official portal
The general article: Same-sex marriage · Compare with another country
Matrimonial property and inheritance
Community of acquisitions (sociedad de gananciales) by default under common Spanish law, separation of property by default in Catalonia and the Balearics, conjugal consortium in Aragon; marriage contracts before a notary before or during the marriage to change regime; the family home protected whatever the regime; for couples married since 2019, the EU Matrimonial Property Regulation designates the law of the first common habitual residence.
The Civil Code (articles 1315 to 1444) lets spouses choose their regime by marriage contract (capitulaciones) and applies by default the sociedad de gananciales: salaries, income and everything acquired for value during the marriage are common; property owned before, and anything received by inheritance or gift, stays private. Catalonia and the Balearics apply separation of property by default (with compensation for domestic work in Catalonia), Aragon the conjugal consortium, Navarre the society of conquests and the Basque Country the communication of assets in certain cases; the applicable law depends on the spouses' regional civil status and their first common domicile. The family home cannot be sold or mortgaged without the consent of both (article 1320), whatever the regime and whoever owns it. Spain applies the EU Matrimonial Property Regulation 2016/1103 to marriages celebrated since 29 January 2019: the law of the first common habitual residence, unless the spouses choose otherwise.
England and Wales have no matrimonial property regime at all — everything is decided by the court on divorce — so British couples rarely realise that settling in Spain places them, by default, under a community of acquisitions: what either earns and buys after the move is jointly owned, and the villa bought with one spouse's savings is common if it was acquired for value during the marriage and the funds cannot be traced. Conversely, a couple who married in the UK and moved later keeps English 'non-regime' status under the EU regulation's first-residence rule, which Spanish notaries and courts will apply if it is proved.
The practical answer is a notarial contract: Spanish notaries draw up capitulaciones choosing separation of property or gananciales for about 200 euros, and the EU regulation allows a couple to choose the law of the nationality or residence of either spouse. British couples who own property in both countries should decide the regime before buying, and keep proof of the origin of private funds.
Key points
| Default regime (common law) | Community of acquisitions: earnings and acquisitions during the marriage are common; property owned before, inheritances and gifts stay private |
|---|---|
| Catalonia and the Balearics | Separation of property by default; in Catalonia, compensation for work in the home on dissolution |
| Aragon, Navarre, Basque Country | Conjugal consortium, society of conquests, communication of assets: variants of community |
| Marriage contracts | Before a notary, before or during the marriage; recorded at the Civil Registry to bind third parties; a change does not prejudice earlier creditors |
| Debts | Common assets answer for debts incurred for family needs by either spouse; private debts are paid first from private assets |
| Family home | Consent of both spouses to dispose of it, whoever owns it (article 1320) |
| Liquidation | On divorce, separation or death: inventory, payment of debts, division in halves; by agreement (notarial deed) or by the court |
| International couples | EU Regulation 2016/1103 for marriages since 2019: law of the first common habitual residence, or the law chosen by the spouses |
In practice
- Before the wedding, decide with the notary: gananciales (protects the spouse who earns less or stops working) or separation (protects earlier assets, a business, or against the other's debts); the contract costs less than 200 euros.
- During the marriage, changing regime requires a notarial contract and does not affect earlier debts; the liquidation of the community accumulated so far is done in the same deed.
- Keep proof of the origin of private assets (inheritances, earlier savings) to defeat the presumption that everything is common.
- On divorce, the liquidation can be included in the settlement agreement or handled separately; valuation of assets is the usual battleground.
- A British couple who married before moving may ask the notary to record that English law governs their property under the EU regulation, or choose Spanish law expressly; unmarried couples have no regime at all and only a notarial agreement organises shared property.
Cost and coverage
Marriage contract 100 to 300 euros before a notary; liquidation of the community by deed 300 to 1,500 euros depending on the assets (plus tax if one spouse receives more than half); contested judicial liquidation far more expensive.
Recent changes
Law 8/2021 adapted the rules for people with disabilities; the EU regulation of 2016 allows international couples to choose Spanish law. Supreme Court case law has refined the compensation for domestic work under separation of property (article 1438).
Where to go
- Notaries (General Council of Notaries): contracts and liquidations.
- Civil Registry: recording of marriage contracts.
- Courts of first instance: contested liquidation.
- Ministry of Justice — information on marriage and property regimes.
Worth knowing
Under separation of property, the spouse who ran the home may claim compensation for domestic work on divorce (article 1438 of the Civil Code, with its own rules in Catalonia): a little-known right the Supreme Court has applied since 2011 without requiring the other spouse to have been enriched. And for the British: there is a regime, whether you chose one or not — find out which before you buy or sell.
Frequently asked questions
We married in England and retired to Spain: which law governs our property?
If you married before 29 January 2019, Spanish courts apply Spanish private international law, which looks first to common nationality — English law, meaning no fixed regime — and Spanish notaries generally accept that. If you married after that date, the EU regulation designates the law of your first common habitual residence, again English law for a couple who lived in England first. Either way, a Spanish notarial deed recording the applicable law avoids arguments when selling a property or on death.
Is our Spanish home jointly owned even though only my name is on the deed?
Under gananciales, yes, if it was bought for value during the marriage — the Land Registry entry will usually say so ('con carácter ganancial'). Under English law or Spanish separation of property, no: it belongs to the person named, subject to a claim on divorce. In all cases, the family home cannot be sold without both spouses signing.
Can we change regime after years of marriage?
Yes, at any time, before a Spanish notary, with the liquidation of the community accumulated so far in the same deed; there is no court involvement and no waiting period. The change is recorded at the Civil Registry and does not affect debts already incurred.
Sources
- Civil Code — Title III, matrimonial property regime — BOE
- General Council of Notaries — marriage contracts — information
- Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 — matrimonial property regimes — EUR-Lex
The general article: Matrimonial property and inheritance · Compare with another country
Divorce
No-fault divorce three months after the wedding, by mutual consent before the judge, a notary or the court clerk (without minor children) in weeks, or contested before the judge in months; compensatory pension and increasingly frequent shared custody; since Brexit a Spanish divorce needs no exequatur in the UK but a UK divorce must be recognised in Spain.
| Requirement | Three months of marriage; no grounds to prove |
|---|---|
| Mutual consent | Settlement agreement (children, home, pensions, liquidation); before a judge, a notary or the court clerk if there are no minor children |
| Contested | Petition to the court; interim measures; judgment in 6 to 18 months depending on the city |
Full detail: Divorce
General sources
- Administración General del Estado — administracion.gob.es — official portal of Spanish public services, with pages in English
- Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) — Spanish legislation, official and consolidated texts
- British Consulates in Spain — gov.uk — living in Spain guide, consular help, lists of English-speaking lawyers