The legal framework
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.
Official sources and links
- 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
- 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