Divorce made easier under the liberal legislation

SPAIN'S Socialist government agreed to make divorce easier yesterday, putting into action plans for a raft of liberal legislation that has angered the church in the traditionally Catholic country. Couples will no longer have to prove they have been separated for a year before applying for divorce and will not have to prove someone was to blame for the breakdown. “No one has to justify themselves when they get married and no one should have to when they get divorced,” Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference after the weekly cabinet meeting. The reform also allows divorced couples to share custody of their children. The legislation still needs parliamentary approval but the government says it will likely come into force next year. The Socialist government, which came to power in a surprise election victory earlier this year, has said it will also legalise gay marriage and make abortion easier. Ninety percent of Spaniards call themselves Catholics but surveys show that a firm majority of the population has liberal attitudes to issues such as gay marriage and divorce. The country was ruled until 1975 by Catholic dictator General Francisco Franco, who banned divorce, and the current divorce law was passed six years after his death. Meanwhile, the Association of Parents of Separated Families in the Balearics, were of the opinion yesterday that the new law on divorce approved by central government, should include some kind of effective protection related to parental access. Representatives of the Association pointed out that the issue should be clarified since they consider the preservation of the relationship of the children with the parent who does not have custody to have “priority interest”. The matter is seen by the group as having “much greater importance” than devoting energy to punishing parents for non-payment of alimony. Separated parents in the Association made this request in a communiqué issued yesterday, after central government approval of the change in divorce laws had become known. The Association reiterated that the custody of the children should go to the parent most able to take the responsibility. Consequently, it considered it “absurd” that in 99 percent of cases, custody is given to mothers. “If women can go to war, then men can stay at home and cook and look after the children”, it said. Additionally, the Association believes that taking a child away from one of its parents (whether it be mother or father) is “much more serious” than taking it away from a house. “The family is not a geographically immovable unit. It is the relationship between father, mother, and child. We understand that the loss of familiar surroundings such as the house, is much less important than the loss of a parent”, it signalled. On the drive for shared custody promoted by central government, separated parents of the Balearics pointed out that the alternative Custody Law in France, similar to the one now existing here, has drastically reduced the figures for disputed separation, and as a result, numbers of incidents of domestic violence have also fallen.