"We are fine as we are". It is the answer given by Teresa, 59, when asked why she hasn't married Jordi. They met when they were young, went to live together, and had a child, but they never married. That was almost 40 years ago. Their story, which is not very different from that of many other couples, illustrates a social change: marriage, both religious and civil, is ceasing to be an essential step in the trajectory of many people. According to the latest registry from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat), published this week, in 2024 the number of married Catalans was close to 3 million, 10.5% less than 13 years earlier (2011 is the only year of the last decade with data on marital status). In contrast, the total population had grown by 6.8% during the same period.

When children arrive after several years of living together, it's often the time when many couples, if they haven't already, wonder whether they should get married or register as a civil partnership. Becoming parents involves taking into account situations you may not have anticipated and wanting to provide for the new family unit that emerges at that moment.