Marriage : endangered specie?

Marriage has changed over the last 30 years enormously. At that time, it was inconceivable to
hear about single-parent families, divorce or even separations. Could our grandparents divorce
easily? Even more disconcerting in the old times, was the question of whether a couple with the
same sex could get married?

Those days, in Spain, there were many changes. In the 80s, the people began to realize that
the idea of marriage was not so wonderful as our grandparents believed. Religion was also not
as important and matrimony ceased to be a sacred institution ("You would not burn in the hell if
you broke it").
In the 90s, the number of religious ceremonies reduced dramatically. However, civil marriages
started to increase. It was due to the fact that the law allowed people with the same sex to get
married. It is ironic to think that this type of couple values the concept of marriage more than
other people.

These days, it is normal to see advertisements for reduced prices at hotels for single-parent
families. In the past , that type of family only existed because of the death of a member (wife or
husband).Yet today, the father or the mother has often never been married before.

In conclusion, the differences between past and present in this issue are so clear that we could
write several pages about them. I think that the evolution in this field has been very positive, in
order to permit freedom of thought and conscience.

By Nuria Murillo Esteban