Divorce rate is up in Malaga with most of them post-summer and after ten years of marriage

Just over 3,000 couples divorced in Malaga province in 2024, a 14.75% increase compared to the previous year, according to data published by Spain's INE national statistics institute on Friday. However, the number of breakups is 15% lower than a decade ago. What is a constant is that they tend to occur especially after the tenth year of marriage and the risk increases after the summer.

The rise in the divorce rate can be explained by a number of causes said Luis Ayuso, sociology professor at the UMA (University of Malaga), who specialises in sociology of the family. For starters, the structural decline in divorces has to do with the parallel drop in the number of marriages. This is why Ayuso warns that divorce statistics - as well as marriage statistics - no longer capture what is happening in reality: for example, they do not record the separations of unmarried couples. Therapist Elisa Godino mentioned another reason for the decline in divorces, which lies in the greater emotional responsibility of couples, as well as their higher level of commitment. "When couples get married, they are clearer about what they want and they have lived together beforehand," she asserted.

Despite this downward trend noted by Professor Ayuso, in 2024 there was an upturn that he attributes to the economic boom: "A positive economic cycle leads couples to both marry and divorce more." This explanation is also shared by lawyer Javier Toro, who has observed that there are couples who would like to divorce but do not because they cannot afford to do so. "They are hostages to their economic situation," he said, before adding that there are situations in which they must continue paying the mortgage, rent and alimony: "You have to have a monthly salary of more than 2,000 euros and few people in Malaga earn that much."

For Rafael Grande, another UMA professor of sociology, he suggested that we look beyond the variations in the figures that are closely linked to the current economic situation. For example, he points out that, in 2014, Spain was still very much affected by the fallout from the major recession that followed the economic crash that burst the housing bubble in 2008. He asserted that the statistics are now showing the normalisation of divorce in Malaga and throughout Spain as a result of the changes that have occurred in the marriage market, marked above all by the increased economic independence of women, but also by individualism: priority is now given to individual wellbeing, and certain things are no longer tolerated.

The data also sheds light on the circumstances in which divorces occur. For example, taking the last decade as a reference, the numbers show that the only divorce rates on the up are those in marriages that have been together for less than two years, although their number remains very low (only 123 divorces out of more than 3,000 last year). The vast majority of breakups occur between couples who have been married for ten years or more. Of the 3,022 divorces in Malaga in 2024, some 1,878 were marriages that had lasted over a decade, according to INE data. "Divorce is not common either in the first few years or in very long-standing marriages," said Rafael Grande, who puts the average duration of couples that break up at a decade.

At this point, Luis Ayuso explained what his discipline has learned about marriages and the crises that can lead to breakups. The first occurs after 12 to 18 months of living together as a married couple. In the past, it was usually down to the instability a couple experienced after the birth of their first child. Nowadays, it is when the couple's expectations of married life are not being met, despite perhaps having lived together previously, and they discover that married life is not as wonderful as they thought it would be. The second occurs at seven or eight years into the marriage, due to sheer wear and tear on the relationship or because the couple discovers that they really do not understand each other. The third occurs after 20-plus years of marriage, when one of the partners retires or leaves the labour market, or when the andropause or menopause crisis arrives and they suddenly want to change their lives.

However, Ayuso pointed to another important factor that comes into play: children. The decline in the birth rate, he said, is a factor that favours the increase in marital breakups. So, the fact of either having no children or older children also facilitates the decision to divorce, said lawyer Javier Toro. "Children are a barrier to divorce. And Spain, despite being a very family-oriented country, has fewer children," said Ayuso.

The INE data shows that half of the divorces that were finalised last year (1,532 of the 3,022 in total for Malaga) corresponded to couples without dependent children.

Therefore, there most certainly are divorces among married couples with children. In fact, Rafael Grande commented that there are two points at which couples with offspring are more likely to break up: when the burden of child-rearing is significant - meaning when they are young - or when the children are considered old enough to cope with the parents' decision to divorce, typically starting at the ages of 14 or 15.

Statistics also reveal how divorces occur and, in this case, the majority are non-contentious: 2,355 out of 3,022. This is a phenomenon consistent with the greater emotional responsibility that people now have, as observed by Godino. Changes in the law have also helped, as Javier Toro explained: now, if there are no children, the divorce can be handled before a notary as an administrative procedure.

Meanwhile, Luis Ayuso explained that, behind all this data, there are several social changes. For instance, the increase in people's levels of education, people becoming more accustomed to leaving and being left behind and that breakups no longer involve two whole families, but rather two individuals, which takes pressure off the whole process. Hence, divorces increasingly tend to be consensual.