In the months of July, August and September 2001 there were
3,521 marriages in the A.C. of Euskadi, which represents a 13.9% reduction with
regard to the same quarter the year before, according to EUSTAT data. By Provinces,
1,832 weddings were held in Bizkaia, followed by 1,075 in Gipuzkoa and 447 in
Alava. In the case of residents outside the A.C. of Euskadi, the number of weddings
came to 167.
September surpasses July as the preferred month for weddings
Traditionally, July is the month of the year when more weddings
are held, but in 2001 September has gone into first place with 1,551 compared
with 1,426 in July. By contrast, August is still the summer month in which fewer
weddings were held (544).
In this period there was an increase in the number of weddings
held by the church. Compared with the winter months, in which over half the
weddings were civil, in the third quarter 75.1 % of ceremonies were religious.
In Alava religious marriages represented 74.5% of the total, 72.4% in Gipuzkoa
and in Bizkaia the figure reached 75.9%.
In the 3,521 weddings held in the third quarter of 2001, 3,382
men and 3,489 women resident in the A.C. of Euskadi married. For 3,228 husbands
(95.4%) this was their first marriage, while 14 widowers and 140 divorcés
remarried. The percentage of first marriages among women was similar to that
of men: there were single 3,336 brides (95.6%), 11 widows and 142 divorcées.
With regard to the distribution of marriages according to the
age of couples, 58.8% of the husbands were over 30 years of age, while among
wives this percentage was 38.5%.