Spanish legislation permitting gay marriage may be revoked by the newly-elected Partido Popular (People’s Party) government, 
following the weekend’s elections.
In 2005, the same year that same-sex marriage was legalised, the party took a case in the Constitutional Court challenging the law. As yet, the Court has not ruled on the case.
It was also heavily involved in organising well-attended street protests against the law, along with the Catholic Church in Spain.
The party’s leader, and incoming Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has previously said he supports civil unions for homosexual couples but does not think they should be called marriages.
The 56-year-old Rajoy said he believes the law is unconstitutional and that he would “change” it even if the nation’s highest court ruled it constitutional.
“I will listen to the court, but I don’t like the fact that there is gay marriage and I don’t think it is constitutional,” he told daily El Pais. “What I don’t like is the word ‘marriage.’”
The outgoing Socialist Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, had led an aggressively secular government, which was frequently at odds with the Church.
Apart from legalising same-sex marriage, Mr Zapatero’s government also liberalised the country’s abortion and divorce laws, and removed the teaching of religion from state schools.
The outgoing government also introduced radical sex education courses in primary schools, some of which were openly disdainful of Church teaching on sexuality.
However, the government did not follow through on electoral promises to legalise euthanasia or to implement changes to the religious freedom law. The “dignified death” bill which has replaced the euthanasia proposal has still riled the bishops, but the government reportedly pulled back from presenting the latter due to pressure from the Church. Abandoning the religious freedom law may be due to other priorities.
The incoming government has pledged to reform Spain’s abortion law by requiring the consent of parents for 16 or 17-year olds seeking to obtain an abortion.
