Spain’s legal marriage age increased from 14 to 16 on Thursday, bringing the country’s policies in line with the majority of Europe. The law also raises the legal age of sexual consent to 14 years old from 13.
The previous policy allowed some of the earliest marriages on the continent. Now, the only exceptions are Andorra and the Ukraine (age 14) and Estonia (age 15), El País reports.
Marriage at such early ages has declined significantly in recent years. Of the more than 28,000 people under 16 to get married in the country since 1975, only 365 of those did so after 2000 and less than ten in the last year, according to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics. With these trends in mind, politicians and activists alike say the new law is a mostly symbolic move against pedophilia and forced marriage. Even so, unions at 16 will require special permission from a judge; otherwise, the minimum will be 18.
The country’s sizable Gypsy population, known for its tradition of early marriage, has expressed support for the new measure. “It’s the 21st century and it’s normal for young people to take longer to get married,” Mariano González, manager of the Roma Union of Madrid, told El País. “In past decades, it was normal for any couple, Gypsy or not [to get married early]. Although our tradition is what it is, now we get married later. This law is a step forward.”
The Tiny Greek Island of Kos at the Center of the Refugee Crisis
A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan migrants arrives on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, on May 27, 2015.Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty ImagesAfghan migrants arrive on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, on May 27, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty ImagesAn Afghan migrant girl holds the hand of a woman as they arrive on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, on May 27, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty ImagesA Syrian refugee prays on the beach after arriving on the Greek island of Kos, via a dinghy boat over part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece, on May 26, 2015. Yannis Behrakis—ReutersHundreds of newly arrived migrants walk toward a temporary shelter after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece, on May 26, 2015. Yannis Behrakis—ReutersAn Afghan migrant family poses next to a deserted hotel, where hundreds of migrants have found temporary shelter, on the Greek island of Kos on May 27, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty ImagesAfghan migrants wash next to a deserted hotel, where hundreds of migrants have found temporary shelter, on the Greek island of Kos on May 27, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty ImagesA migrant man from Bangladesh brushes his hair in a broken mirror in an abandoned hotel, acting as a temporary shelter, on the Greek island of Kos on May 29, 2015.Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesA mother sits with her two young sons as they get ready to sleep in the corridor of an abandoned hotel that many migrants are using as a temporary shelter on the Greek island of Kos on May 30, 2015.Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesMigrants gather outside the police station on the Greek island of Kos to collect documentation to facilitate their onward journey into Europe on June 1, 2015.Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesAn Afghan woman sits with her child at a dock at the port of the Greek island of Kos on May 27, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty ImagesLife vests and a deflated dinghy are seen on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, following the arrival of Afghan immigrants, on May 30, 2015.Yannis Behrakis—Reuters
