Palma Civil Guard wants to live with boyfriend

A member of the Guardia Civil stationed in Majorca will next week make an official application to be allowed to share his quarters with his boyfriend. This is the first time such an application has been made by a member of the paramilitary Guardia Civil police and the news is the talking point of the nation. The Civil Guard and his boyfriend are registered as a couple under the Balearics' couples act, which recognises the rights of homosexual couples, and their lawyer is drawing up the application which will be submitted to Guardia Civil commanders in Palma. In accordance with an order passed by the Guardia Civil Director General in 1994 which states that all members of the force have the right to live in Guardia Civil barracks with their heterosexual partner, married or not. It appears that no consideration was given to homosexual couples and local commanders will have to take the 1994 order in to account when studying the application. The order also states that “all other persons will need written authorisation” with regards to their living quarters. Sources close to the couple have said that if Guardia Civil commanders refuse to let them live together in the Guardia Civil barracks, they are likely to take legal action which will not only cause considerable embarrassment for the paramilitary police force but also catapult the issue to headline news across Spain.