new law
A revolutionary shake-up in the law will end a father's automatic right to hand his surname down to his children ahead of the mother's
24.11.10 - 12:43 -
Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's socialist government is planning a change in the birth registration laws. Traditionally, Spanish people have two surnames at birth: the first is the father's and the second, the mother's. Although under existing laws either can come first, historically it is always the father’s surname which goes before and in legal battles it would have priority. In addition, in Spain women do not change their surnames when they marry.
However, the government headed by Mr. Rodríguez Zapatero (Rodríguez comes from his father, Zapatero from his mother; but he is generally referred to as ‘Prime Minister Zapatero’) is blueprinting a new law which instructs registrars to put surnames in alphabetical order, unless parents specify otherwise.
The Government says it is a step forward in equality, and feminists welcome it saying it eradicates a socially acceptable form of machismo. "This measure is a logical consequence of the principle of equality between men and women," said Francisco Caamaño, the Justice Minister, whose own second surname is Domínguez. It is also hoped that it will help to avoid the ongoing confusion in English-speaking, single surname countries.
Under the rule of General Franco, first names had to be chosen from an approved list of saints. The latest legislation will even spare parents from declaring whether their baby was born out of wedlock, which has been a requirement since 1957.
The new law will also propose allowing people to replace the name of an abusive parent. “It is a horrible reality for the children of women who have been beaten or verbally or sexually abused that they have to carry around the abuser’s name. We whole-heartedly welcome this step,” says Mercedes González, who fosters abused children in Malaga.
So far it was unclear what will happen in the case of single mothers, who have in the past been encouraged to invent one if they do not wish their baby to inherit the father’s surname. According to some sources, names like those of Ricky Martín or Enrique Iglesias are particularly common for this purpose. Neither does the incoming law state how gay couples should navigate the system.
The rule proposed by the PSOE government would have changed the names of some of the most famous names in Spanish history. Pablo Picasso could have been known as Pablo Ruíz if his parents had followed the new law; and the dictator, General Francisco Franco would have been General Bahamonde.
Critics
Opponents of the legislation say the library-like system would mean some surnames towards the end of the alphabet would become extinct as they will not be passed down to grandchildren. Mr. Caamaño disagrees. “The alphabetical ordering will be used only in the case of parental disagreement," he said.
Luisa Fernanda Rudi, the Conservative (‘Partido Popular’) spokeswoman in Aragón has said that their party’s leader, Mariano Rajoy, will “go to battle” over the proposals. Under the new law Mr. Rajoy might have been known as Mr. Brey.
American-born Malaga resident, Carlos Jiménez Bates, who could have been affected by the new law if he had been born 31 years later, believes it is a smokescreen. “It is hugely controversial and has got everyone in Spain talking. It’s a way of distracting people away from the Government’s failures and real problems of the country: the economy. “No-one really needs this right now. What we need is to get the economy moving again and reduce the high rate of unemployment. That’s way more important now,” he says.
Teresa Pérez García agrees that there are more pressing matters for the state. “As a woman, I am 100 per cent behind female equality, but the name issue has never really held me, or any of my female friends, back from achieving what we want to achieve. It’s only a name after all. The same goes for men – it hasn’t stopped José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s career has it?”
Alex Gómez Alves, who was born to a Spanish father and Portuguese mother, was raised in the UK but is proud of his double-headed surname. “Why are we doing this anyway? It’s just another example of the Americanisation of Europe; soon all national differences will be completely removed. Your name is important as it shows your ancestry and we shouldn't change the system in order to fit into certain computer databases more easily.
“I agree that if Spanish people adopt these new ways, names at the end of the alphabet will be endangered. We’ll become a country of ‘aardvarks!'. “Not only that but having the system as we have it now makes it easier to find and identify people who are born to fathers with common surnames like García or Fernández,” he says.
However, the Government is standing firm in their beliefs. "The law is more in tune with our times," said the Justice Minister, Francisco Caamaño.
