Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2009 / 16:57 pm
The Institute for Family Policy in Spain said last week that the country had little to celebrate on the World Day of the Family, on May 15, because "the government not only is not changing its policy against the family, it is intensifying it."
"In Spain there is little to celebrate, since despite the serious problems that Spanish families are enduring, public officials continue to ignore their needs and even continue proposing gravely harmful measures," the Institute said.
Therefore, the vice president of the Institute, Mariano Martinez Aedo, denounced officials for "seriously neglecting" their constitutionally defined duty to "provide for the social, economic and legal protection of the family."
Due to the lack of a coherent family policy in Spain, the legal age for marriage continues to be younger, the birth rate continues to drop and marriages are increasingly more fragile.
"Faced with this problem, the government only proposes ‘more abortion’ and fast-track divorce," he said.
For this reason, Aedo added, "We call on all political parties, public administrations and social sectors to make a change of direction which will allow the establishing of authentic family policy in Spain."