10,201 weddings were held involving residents of the A.C. of the Basque Country of different sexes in 2005, 584 less than the previous year, according to Eustat data. Over recent years there has been an increase in the number of civil weddings, which represented 23.3% in 1990 and had risen to 44.4% by 2005, when they totalled 4,525. Catholic weddings numbered 5,670 and 6 corresponded to other religious faiths.

By province, it was in Gipuzkoa where the proportion of civil weddings was greatest (47.6%), followed by Álava (44.7%) and Bizkaia (44.2%). The percentage of civil weddings dropped to 32% when they took place outside our Community.

The Basque marital rate (4.5 weddings per thousand inhabitants) was slightly lower than the Spanish one or that of the European Union countries as a whole (4.8%o in both cases). July was the most popular month for getting married, with 1,728 weddings, followed by September, with 1,475 and June, with 1,332.

As regards the type of ceremony, 5,670 were Catholic weddings, 4,525 were completely civil ones and 6 corresponded to other religious faiths.

Turning to the marital status of the couples immediately prior to the wedding, 93% of men had previously been single, compared to 93.3% of women.

Parallel to the rising maternity age, there was a rise in the ages of brides and grooms. In 2005, the average age for single men to get married was 32.4 and 30.4 for single women. Since 1986, the average age of grooms has risen by 5 years and 5.5 in the case of brides.

For the 626 couples who settled outside of the A.C. of the Basque Country following the wedding, the favourite destinations were Cantabria, followed by Madrid and Castile and Leon. There were differences between couples, as regards destination, depending on which province they were married in: those from Álava largely went to La Rioja and Castile and Leon; those from Bizkaia went to Cantabria and Madrid and those from Gipuzkoa to foreign countries and Navarre.

As regards the geographic origin of the bride and groom, 73.8% of weddings were held between residents of the same municipality of the Community and 6.9% resided in neighbouring municipalities.

Graph 1: Average age of single spouses

Source: EUSTAT

In addition, 74 weddings were held between people of the same sex, of which 10 were held in Álava, 35 in Bizkaia and 26 in Gipuzkoa. Of these, 56 were weddings between men and 18 between women.