Hi.  My partner Pilar and I want to get married.  We do not want any fuss.  Possibly no guests at all. 

Can anyone say if it would be easier to get married in the UK than Spain?  I speak more Spanish than my partner speaks English so therefore Spain seems attractive but the stories here suggest it is not as simple as in the UK.

There are no children involved (my step daughter is 23).

Finally anyone know anything about getting married in Gibraltar?  Seems a great compromise.

Ta Nigel

Hi there!  I’m from the UK.  I got married to a Spaniard in UK, the other way around!  It was a pain because it’s taken us 2 years to get our marriage recognised here in Spain, where we live (the registro civil central is seriously slow!).  The only advice I can give is that it’s good to get married where you live, so that your situation is legalised asap.  However, as you can see, we didn’t do that, because I wanted to get married at home!!!  As for the language, we were lucky cos in UK we had a bilingual ceremony, the Church was fine about it.  In Spain maybe it’s not the case.  Also, if you’re planning to get married in a religious ceremony in Spain you have to go through a series of courses, in Spanish, given by the Catholic Church.  If you’re having a civil service, you don’t, so of course, it’s a little less laborious.
Good luck!
Helen

Thanks for that, v interesting.  I hadn’t thought of that as a problem.  On that basis I better go for the UK.  The only place we will see any practical difference between being married or not is in the UK (relating to tax).  It will be a lot more than 2 years before we can retire to Spain so we have time for the slow official wheels to turn.  (Although I still fancy Gibraltar).

I laughed at the RC or civil question.  I went to a wedding in a catholic church in madrid.  Once the ceremony started I was ushered out the back of the church, served two beers in the bar next door, then ushered back in for the final 2 mins and the Sevillana band playing.  Happy memories.  Wouldn’t want to miss out on the beer!

Enjoy