Spain raises marrying age from 14 to 16 , age of consent from 13 to 16

The change will bring them inline with other European countries and follows the recent move to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16.
Must admit I was unaware the marriage age and age of consent were so low in Spain and a bit surprised that a member of the EU had limits set so low in the 21st century.

While the marrying age in Spain is 18, currently Spanish law allows for two exceptions: a 16-year-old wanting to marry can do so with parental permission, while 14-year-olds are allowed to marry with permission from a judge.
Under the new legislation, 14- and 15-year-olds will no longer be able to marry, while 16-year-olds will now require permission from a judge or parental consent to marry.

The reforms come after years of lobbying by children’s rights groups, said Gabriel González-Bueno of Unicef in Spain. “There’s a risk that these young children are being forced into marriages or being married off as a consequence of an agreement in which they had little say,” he said.

Reforms to the age of sexual consent became a national debate in 2012, after the death of a 13-year-old girl at the hand of her 39-year-old lover in the small village of El Salobral near Albacete. The girl’s parents had alerted the authorities to the relationship, but police said they couldn not intervene as the relationship was legal and consensual.
www.theguardian.com...

I'm with you, didn't have a clue that Spain had such lax measures. A good change indeed.

a reply to: gortex
Good for them. It's about time. No 13-14 year old is mature enough to make life choices and decisions, except in rare cases. Even 16 is debatable.

a reply to: gortex

IMO that's still to young. I live in the UK and I am a gay chap and when I first left home at 15, the age of consent for gay people was 21, 18 for heterosexuals. They reduced this to 18 where in my mind it should have stayed, but now it's been reduced to 16 years old for heterosexuals and homosexuals.

I think this is to young, children having sex is abhorrent and takes away their childhood. Its a shame that kids want to grow up so quickly as it is and they are already so sexualised. My main concern is Adults taking advantage of these kids and having sex with them and its totally legal. Children are still children at 16 and can be easily coerced into something they don't want to do by an adult and not realise they have been coerced.

Make the age of consent 18 for everyone IMO!

surprised most of UKs MPs and BBC entertainers didnt move to spain ...
maybe its not as exciting when its not legally wrong ...

a reply to: flammadraco

in the uk it is and has been for many years 16 for heterosexuals .