Number of heterosexual marriages in Spain 2006-2021
Same-sex marriage in Spain
Spain legalized same-sex marriage (matrimonio igualitario in Spanish) in 2005, thus becoming the third country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry after the Netherlands and Belgium. The number of same-sex nuptials stood at approximately 3.1 thousand in 2020, with figures looking very similar for marriages between women and marriages between men. While marriages between women grew steadily since same-sex marriages was legalized, the trend for men behaved differently, with marriages booming in 2005 and dropping thereafter only to pick up in recent years. The number of same-sex marriages was significantly lower than that of opposite-sex couples throughout the entire period under review.
Divorce numbers in Spain
When love does not work out, some married couples may seek to put an end to their wedlock by getting a divorce. This was the case for more than 91 thousand couples in 2019, as recorded by the latest reports. The number of marriages terminated by divorce in Spain decreased over the last few years, although it maintained steadily above 90 thousand throughout. 2006 registered the highest number of divorces in Spain during this period at roughly 127 thousand divorces. In contrast, 2019 recorded the lowest point of the period considered.