More than 110,000 divorces take place each year in Spain, institute reports

Madrid, Spain, Jul 22, 2010 / 16:02 pm

The Institute for Family Policy issued a report this week showing that Spain has the highest rate of divorce in Europe, with more than 110,000 cases taking place each year.

The president of the institute, Eduardo Hertfelder, noted that the “unintended effects of the current fast-track divorce law are becoming evident and clear,” making Spain the country “with the highest rate of divorce in the last 10 years out of all the countries that make up the European Union.”

Spain has seen an increase of 73,900 annual divorces in the last 10 years, with 36,072 divorces in 1998 and increasing to 110,036 in 2008.  This constitutes an increase of 205 percent, the institute reported. 

The figures “speak of thousands of personal, family and social tragedies to which we must not remain passive,” Hertfelder said.  “They constitute a primary challenge for society in general and for the government.”

“Each family with no choice other than to divorce should be considered a failure of the administration and of society for not knowing how or not wanting to help.”

“Why doesn’t the state assume a policy that truly supports the family, in particular, families in crisis?  Not only does it not do this but in some cases, as in Spain, it implements regressive and unjust laws” that lead to “the continual increase in the number of broken families,” Hertfelder continued.

Amidst the 10.5 million divorces that, over the last 10 years in Europe have affected more than 14.5 million children, “We need to take a decisive stand for the family,” Hertfelder concluded. “We need to implement a true preventive policy that helps families in conflict and/or crisis to overcome these difficulties.”