Congress to pass divorce reform and gay marriage bill despite opposition
Homosexual unions incense religious institutions and the Popular Party
El Pais Spain | CH. N / E. DE B.
Madrid
Spain's ruling Socialists are expected to move a step closer to fulfilling two of their most prominent electoral promises when Congress approves today the government's proposed reforms to introduce fast-track divorce and legalize homosexual marriage.
The two proposals have already garnered the support of the Socialists, the leftist Catalan nationalists of ERC, the Leftist Union (IU) and its Catalan partner ICV, and the smaller parties in Parliament, and are thus widely expected to secure approval in today's vote.
Catalan and Basque Nationalists from the CiU and PNV respectively will allow their deputies to vote according to their consciences on homosexual marriage, and will back the divorce reform. The opposition Popular Party has announced it will abstain from voting on the divorce law, but will vote against the draft bill to introduce homosexual marriage.
The latter has not only irked conservatives in Parliament, but has also incensed most religious denominations in Spain. Representatives of the Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Orthodox faiths in Spain issued yesterday a joint statement calling for the protection of "monogamous, heterosexual marriage," which, they argue "forms part of the Jewish-Christian tradition."
Echoing previous calls by the Popular Party, the statement says homosexual couples should have the option to legalize their unions in common law, but outside the institution of marriage.
Women's associations, meanwhile, have welcomed the terms of the reform of the divorce law, the first in Spain since divorce was legalized in 1981. Among other things, the reform eliminates the requirement that couples separate before filing for divorce, and introduces shared custody of children if the parents file a joint request. In more exceptional cases, the new law will allow judges to award shared custody if only one parent requests it, a move criticized as irresponsible by women's groups.
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