As in any country, the bureaucratic paper trail operates here too. Both civil and religious
marriages between non-Spanish nationals are possible but the approval process is time-consuming.
Both parties must be 18 years or older.
CIVIL MARRIAGES
While Spanish law allows foreigners to marry in Spain, one of the couple must be a legal resident in Spain.
A marriage application here will usually involve lengthy and tedious paperwork, so you should allow sufficient
time before your desired marriage date for processing the application (30 - 60 days is average but it depends
on the community).
Baring changes in the law, generally you will need:
- An application form
- A Spanish residence card (tarjeta de residencia) or letter confirming residence from the local Spanish police
- An original birth certificate, accompanied by a sworn translation (traduccion jurada) done by a Spanish
'traductor jurado'.
- Certificate of residence (Certificado de Empadronamiento), proving residence in Spain. These are available
from the local town hall, and expire after three months.
- Proof both parties are free to marry. This is a Consular Certificate of No Impediment to marriage for both
bride and groom. (This can be obtained either from your local registry office or from the Spanish consulate.
- A marriage and divorce/death certificate, if either applicant has been married previously accompanied by a
sworn translation (traduccion jurada).
- Posting of Banns - Banns are a public announcement that a couple intend to marry, giving any person an
opportunity to object. In Spain banns are required when one or both of the parties concerned lives in a
town of less than 25,000 inhabitants. Once the judge has accepted all the required documents, banns are
posted for a period of fifteen days prior to the marriage ceremony.
After all these documents (and any others local towns may require) have been submitted to the town hall
(3 months prior to the anticipated wedding date), a wedding date is set and the ceremony can be performed.
The marriage is recorded into the Civil Registry and you will be given a Spanish marriage certificate. In
many towns, a "Family Book" (Libro de Familia) is customarily given to the couple (this book is an ongoing
register of your marriage, children´s births, and family deaths - a very Spanish custom).
RELIGIOUS MARRIAGES
The Spanish law does recognize the validity of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Islamic marriages without the
requirement of a second civil marriage. Regulations will probably vary depending on the religious denomination.
For non-Catholic marriages, couples will first need to obtain authorization from the Civil Authorities by
presenting the same required documents as for "Civil Marriages".
For Catholic marriages, the following documents must be presented to the priest performing the ceremony. If
you plan on a Catholic ceremony and either you or your partner is a foreigner in Spain, you must contact the
Bishop in the area where you plan to marry. Neither party can be divorced. Arrangements for a Catholic marriage
generally take from one to four weeks and bear in mind that there is a high demand for Catholic weddings here.
- A birth certificate, accompanied by a sworn translation (traduccion jurada) done by a Spanish 'traductor jurado'.
- Copy of your baptismal, issued within the 6 months prior to your wedding and authenticated by the issuing
Bishopric and accompanied by a sworn translation (traducción jurada) done by a Spanish 'traductor jurado.'
- Proof both parties are free to marry ('Fe de Solteria y Vida'). This is a Consular Certificate of No
Impediment to marriage for both bride and groom. (This can be obtained either from your local registry office
or from the Spanish consulate.
Once the religious ceremony has taken place, you have one week to present the church-issued certificate to the
nearest local civil registry to legalize the marriage in Spain.
If you have found all this paperwork overwhelming and decide that you want to have just a symbolic ceremony,
that can be done too. Of course this implies a simple reading of vows with no official person conducting the
ceremony but you could have a wonderful celebration. Some couples have found that a symbolic ceremony is
sufficient enough for them when selecting a destination wedding. That way they can have as intimate a ceremony
as possible, leaving the legal fanfare for when they are home. If you decide this is for you, then a senior
member of the family or very close friend could conduct the ceremony, acting as a guide to the reading of your
vows. How creative the ceremony is will depend on your own imagination!
