The rate of demands for marital dissolution in the Balearics during the second quarter of the year stood at 0.76, slightly higher than the national average of 0.74 per every 1,000 inhabitants. The Canary Islands, with 0.89, was the region with the highest rate of filing for divorce, followed by Valencia (0.82) and Catalonia (0.79). The lowest rate was in Castile and Leon where it was 0.50.
In the whole of Spain, demands for divorce that were initiated during the second quarter, those that were consensual as as well as challenged, grew by 2.3% compared with 2014, while those for separation were down by 2.9%. The difference between these two figures is attributed to the availability of the so-called “express divorce”. This was introduced ten years ago and allows divorce to be carried out in record time, and as such it has led to an increase in the number of divorces and a consequent drop in the number of separations. From 1 April to 30 June, there were 32.616 divorce petitions, of which 19,612 were mutually agreed to. Over the same period there were 1,741 separation demands, 70% with the agreement of both parties.
All procedural elements within the process for separation and divorce, e.g. those related to custody of children, showed increases (compared to last year) that placed them at record quarterly levels.