Annulments, separations and divorces. Provinces

Divorce

Dissolution of the marital bond that implies the loss of the obligations and rights that are generated between the spouses on being married. Divorce does not annul obligations in terms of possible children, as these are derived from parentage and not marital ties.

Annulment

Judicial decision to declare a marriage annulled. Annulled marriages are those held without consent to marry, those contracted without the required intervention of a judge, mayor or registrar, or without witnesses, those held with errors in the identity of the bride or groom, or those contracted through duress or serious fear. A request to annul a marriage can be made by the spouses, the public prosecutor, or any person that has a direct and legitimate interest in the same, other than the exceptions stipulated by Law 15/2005, of July 8.

Separation

Judicial decision that produces the suspension of the common-law living of the spouses and terminates the possibility of binding the assets of the other spouse in the exercise of domestic prerogative. The request for separation may be made by both spouses or either one of them (with or without the other's consent) and the couple must have been married for at least three months, except in cases where any risk to the life, physical integrity, freedom, etc, of the claimant spouse can be accredited.

L'Estadística de nul·litats, separacions i divorcis és una investigació estadística de caràcter anual dirigida a l'estudi dels processos de nul·litat, separació o divorci que es plantegen en l'àmbit judicial. The data is obtained from the INE's Statistics on annulments, separations and divorces that are produced on the basis of information provided by the courts of first instance and magistrates' courts and on violence towards women.

From 1995 to 2006, the information was compiled by means of a report sent by the courts each quarter. From January 1, 2007, a new system was implanted for the continuous collection of information by means of an electronic questionnaire. Information is collected on the date that the lawsuit was submitted, the date of the ruling, details about the marriage (date of wedding and number of minor children), details of the spouses (sex, date of birth, nationality and marital status when contracting the current marriage) and the verdict (type of decision, plaintiff, alimony, child support and the existence of a prior legal separation).

Following the application of Law 15/2005, of July 8, which modified the Civil Code and the Law on civil judgements regarding matters of separation and divorce, which allowed claims for divorce without the need for prior separation, the series for separations underwent a significant decrease.

L'adscripció d'una nul·litat, separació o divorci a una comunitat autònoma o a una província es duu a terme prenent com a referència el lloc de l'òrgan judicial que dicta la sentència i no el lloc de naixement o de residència dels cònjuges.

You can get more information about these statistics in the methodology.