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RESIDENCY PERMITS

Can I gain Spanish residency through marriage or partnership?

Is it possible to gain Spanish residency through a marriage or partnership? Read on to find out more and discover if your situation makes you eligible.

Published: 14 April 2022 15:24 CEST
wedding
Photo: ANURAG1112 / Pixabay

So, you’ve fallen in love and have decided to marry or enter into a civil union with your partner, the only problem is that your partner lives in Spain and you don’t have Spanish residency to be able to live with them. Is it possible to apply for Spanish residency through marriage?

The short answer is yes, it’s totally possible to gain Spanish residency through marriage or a civil union, but different situations will apply, depending on your particular circumstances.

In Spain, a civil union is known as a pareja de hecho and grants you many of the same benefits as marriage, however there are a few main differences. Read here to find out what the differences are and which is better. 

Residency through marriage to an EU citizen

If you are from a non-EU country and marry or enter into a civil partnership with someone from Spain or the EU, then gaining a Spanish residency permit is quite straightforward.

In this case, you will apply for a residence permit for Spain as a family member of an EU citizen or a tarjeta de residencia de familiar comunitario. This will enable you the right to come and live and work in Spain under the same conditions as those from the EU.

You must apply for the residence permit within a period of 90 days or three months after arriving in Spain and can do so by making an appointment at your local immigration office. Along with your ID documents, you will need to bring a completed Modelo EX-18 form found here.

The main requirements for this are:

  • Your spouse or partner must be from an EU country
  • They must have Spanish residency
  • They must be legally working, be a student or have sufficient economic funds to be able to support you
  • Your marriage must have been registered in an EU country, if not you will have to get your marriage certificate apostilled or might have to get your marriage re-registered in Spain.

If you and your partner meet all the requirements, you will be granted permission to live in Spain for five years and are able to renew it after this time.

READ ALSO – Q&A: Can EU nationals bring non-EU family members over to Spain?

What about if my partner/spouse is not an EU citizen?

If you marry or enter into a civil partnership with someone who is not Spanish or an EU citizen but has residency in Spain, the good news is that you’re able to join them and gain Spanish residency via the family reunification visa.

The main requirement is that your partner must have been living in Spain for a period of one year already and have already been granted a visa renewal for a further year or more.

If your partner has not already been living in Spain for one year, you will need to wait to be able to join them. The only way that you can join your partner immediately rather than waiting the rest of the time is if your partner has an EU long-term residency permit from another EU country, has an EU Blue Card or has a student visa.

The main requirement is that your partner has to prove that they have the financial means to support you. This means that they must demonstrate they earn an amount equivalent to or greater than 150 percent of the IPREM (Public Multiple Effects Income Indicator). For 2022 this equals €868.53 per month.

If your partner is not working, they will have to prove they have sufficient savings, as well as private health insurance.

READ ALSO: How can non-EU nationals bring family members to live in Spain?

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, like in the United States, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that in Spain.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing the May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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