Balearics tops for foreign marriages

Results of a study released yesterday by the Institute for Family Policy reported that mixed marriages go to make up 31.2 percent of the total in the Balearics, well up on the national average of 17 percent. Not far behind the Balearics are the Canary Islands with 25.4 percent of marriages there being made up of at least one foreigner. Following is Catalonia (23.05%), Navarre (20.85%), Madrid and La Rioja (20.09%).

Extremadura and Aragon took the bottom slot with 5.66 and 9.94 percent respectively. Figures for foreign marriage in other regions fell between 10 and 11 percent. The state average of 17 percent shows that such unions have tripled inbetween 2000 and 2007, said the report. During this period, the number of foreign marriages has gone up from 11'974 to 34'223 - an increase of 186 percent. The President of the Family Policy Institute, Eduardo Hertfelder, said that if the trend continues, the national average will reach 20 percent by the year 2010. Hertfelder added that mixed marriages are holding ground over marriages between Spanish nationals which have declined by 10 percent over the past few years. He said that the figures are a reflection of the extent to which foreigners are able to integrate in Spain, and the welcome they are given by the host nation. Looking at compatibility between the different nationalities, the report showed that Spanish men opting for a foreign spouse mostly marry Brazilian and Colombian women, whilst Spanish women often choose to marry men from Morocco. It is mostly men who opt for a foreign spouse (15'935), roughly a third more than the number of women marrying another nationality (10'659). “It speaks highly of the institution of marriage that people of totally different backgrounds choose to take such an important step in life together,” said Hertfelder.