What Are The Characteristics Of Women From Spain?

Family plays a pivotal role in many Spanish women’s lives, directly impacting how many people experience dating in Spain. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for people in Spain to consider their family one of the fundamental pillars of modern life, with families often living very locally to one another. For example, within city regions such as Madrid, families typically live in a single flat, and extended families may often live in adjoining apartments. By contrast, for Spanish rural families, it’s often common for villages to pop up around just a handful of families, with family members tending to stay within the town and build new homes rather than move away. However, recent trends have seen an increase in the number of Spanish people moving away from their traditional family homes in the countryside and into the city, looking for work; as such, the distance between family members from rural backgrounds has been slowly increasing. Nevertheless, the importance of familial bonds remains strong, which often results in family members returning to their hometown or region for special events such as Christmas or Birthdays, with celebrations taking up a crucial part of Spanish culture.

At present, the number of households within Spain has been increasing and now falls at over 18.6 million; however, the average household size of 2.5 residents has remained unchanged. The birthrate within Spain has also been falling quite drastically. The number of children per woman has fallen by almost 0.8 to just 1.27 children per woman in 2013, compared to 2.03 in 1981. Moreover, the average motherhood age has also been increasing, indicating that Spanish women are spending longer establishing their careers than starting a family. However, studies have found that around 25% to 30% of all Spanish women who have not had children by thirty are due to an inability to conceive. Meanwhile, for those who do want children, the number of Spanish women over forty having children has grown by around 63%. If you have been looking for a partner with whom to settle down and establish a healthy relationship and strong household before looking to begin a family, a Spanish woman might be the woman for you. 

Admittedly, Spain also has the fourth-highest divorce rate in Europe; this has been falling in recent years and is now around 10% lower for 2019 compared to 2010. As such, if you’re looking for a long-term partner, the current generation of Spanish women might be just your pick. A further benefit of looking for Spanish women to date is that approximately 900,000 more Spanish women live in Spain than men. The number of breathtaking Spanish women available to begin a relationship with could certainly make this option more appealing to many people. What’s more, if you own your own home, this will undoubtedly be a bonus. This idea is because most Spanish people stay at home until marriage. The average age to move out in Spain is typically 30 years old, which is four years later than the average moving-out age in other European countries.

As with many European countries, education is free in Spain for Spanish residents and is hence subsidized mainly by the Spanish government. The school year in Spain follows a similar timeline to the British education system, with a three-term system and holidays in between each term; however, half-term holidays are not common and are largely replaced with the occasional long weekend or extra day offer. Education is only compulsory from six to sixteen years of age, covering most primary and secondary education for students. Fully state-funded schools in the country account for around 67.4%, with a further 26% of schools operating on a private model with state funding and just 6.6% being fully private. However, purchases of books and studying materials, in addition to pre-primary and further education, still need to be privately funded. This could be one of the key reasons many Spanish women choose to delay starting their own families to establish solid financial connections early on. Although the state subsidizes primary and secondary education, the actual attainment of secondary diplomas is only around 80% out of the total enrollment in secondary education of approximately 2.7 million students; about half a million Spanish students leave secondary education without a diploma.

Further education opportunities within Spain are numerous, and approximately 1.6 million students attend post-secondary education, representing around 16% of the total number of education students at any time. This figure also increases rapidly, with the attainment of degree qualifications increasing. There are over 80 universities in Spain. Of these, around 14 are located in Madrid, and a further 12 and 11 are found in Catalonia and Andalusia. However, there is a distinct split between male and female attendance in further education courses, depending on the specialty. For example, approximately 70% of health students in Spain are young Spanish women, while 75% of students studying engineering and architectural courses are male. The literacy rate in Spain is relatively high, with an average literacy of 98.44% (and increasing gradually annually, indicating improvements in the Spanish education system and a growing focus on the importance of good education).

Unfortunately, unemployment in Spain is high compared to many other countries, at 13.33%. However, this has fallen somewhat, hopefully indicating that job prospects within Spain are on the increase (particularly within city regions). Unfortunately, the average salary in Spain is low, at just €16,896 per annum; this is among the lowest in Europe, with only countries such as Estonia, Portugal, and Greece being lower. However, since living costs are substantially lower, this is primarily overridden, which may be worth considering as part of your decision. Generally speaking, the average cost of living for someone with a restricted budget in Spain is just over €1000 monthly, including rent and rood, although the cost of living increases within inner-city regions such as Madrid. The largest employer in Spain is consistently the services sector at around 75%, with industry jobs often falling at approximately 20% and agricultural jobs comprising about 4% of the total workforce.

The distribution of religions within Spain is highly diverse, although the most significant proportion of religions still falls to Catholicism, accounting for around 56.3% of all residents. As such, it can be stated that over half of Spanish women and men are Catholic; however, the majority are non-practicing Catholics, representing a total of 38.3% of the Spanish population. After that, just 18.0% of Spanish women and men consider themselves practicing Catholics. For example, only around 4.3% of Catholics attend church multiple times per week; after that, about 14.9% of Catholic Spanish women and men attend every holy day of obligation and on Sundays. However, despite over 50% of its population following Catholicism alone, Spain is only considered the 16th most religious country in Europe. What’s more, only around 3% of all Spanish residents consider religion one of their most important values, which is almost half the estimate for residents of many other European nations.

In addition to Catholicism, there are also numerous other religions within Spain. For example, Eastern Orthodoxy, though not a traditional Spanish religion, has been increasing since the 1990s, along with increased migration from Eastern countries. Among these, the Spanish Romanian population accounts for the most significant proportion of Eastern Orthodox followers, with around 0.7 million people, and a further 1 million followers are split across Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, and Russian heritages. In addition, immigration has increased the prevalence of Protestantism in the country, which now comprises roughly 1.2 million members. However, despite the growth, Spain is commonly considered a graveyard for foreign missionaries looking to spread the religion due to the country’s widespread reluctance to adopt Evangelical Protestant teachings. Other common religions within Spain include Islam, which became rapidly more popular following immigration during the early 2000s. An estimated 2.1 million people live in Spain following the Muslim faith, many of whom are of Moroccan descent. In addition, Judaism is also present – though uncommon – in Spain, and this was introduced alongside Christianity during Roman times.

The hesitance to embrace new religions within Spain may be partially the result of the country’s continually growing trends toward irreligion and/or Atheism. In fact, more than 14 million Spanish women and men consider themselves to have no religion, which accounts for over 30% of the population alone. This trend is not new, either; in fact, this trend commenced during the 1600s when concepts of Atheism, Deism, Agnosticism, and freethinking began to increase among the population. Unfortunately, this change was temporarily halted by the arrival of the Francoist dictatorship between 1939 and 1975, which had fought vigorously to repress irreligion during the Spanish civil wars and outlawed it. As a result, the change led to irreligious individuals being unable to find employment or share their thoughts; however, the Spanish democratic transition between 1975 and 1982 lifted these restrictions on having no religion. As such, Atheism and irreligion have grown in popularity ever since, and while the majority of the country still considers itself religious, this represents a significant change.

Spain has been one of the later adopters of gender equality, with the Francoist democratic period severely restricting the rights and capabilities of many Spanish women. The Francoist era was implemented shortly after the Spanish civil war, which ran between 1936 and 1939, and was led by Francisco Franco. He was referred to as the Caudillo by Spanish residents and ruled Spain as a dictatorship, often being considered a fascist or semi-fascist regime. Unfortunately, this severely limited women’s rights until the abolishment of the regime upon Franco’s death in 1975. As such, employment opportunities for women were severely restricted until this period, representing a significant challenge for many women to find work. As such, many Spanish women traditionally had to rely on their husbands and families for financial support, unable to seek suitable employment on their own behalf. This limited Spanish women; divorce, contraception, and abortion were also banned. 

However, by 1977 – at the time of Francoism’s abolition – a survey concluded that only around one in five Spanish women considered the role of women to be at home – compared to 26% in Britain and 37% in France, both countries which had already pushed for women’s rights. With this in mind, it’s apparent that the mentality of women in Spain is very progressive, and as a result, most Spanish women are highly motivated to work. When dating Spanish women, you could expect them to be eager to work and provide an equal contribution towards the family, where possible; however, despite this, women do traditionally still earn less than men. Moreover, in more rural locations where job opportunities may be less familiar, many Spanish women still fall into more traditional roles as housewives due to a lack of employment. While most Spanish women still hold the overarching belief that family is integral, around one-third consider marriage to be outdated and wasteful. When dating a Spanish woman, you should check her thoughts and mentality regarding marriage before taking any next steps.

One of the most notable features of Spanish women, perhaps triggered by the country’s rapid shift towards gender equality, is their strength. Indeed, Spanish women are typically strong, confident, and bold; they often won’t be afraid to tell you exactly what they think, too, which is a level of honesty that sometimes comes across as a little surprising. What’s more, they are often also passionate, talkative, and very extroverted – but it’s worth considering that some Spanish women may also be naïve. This can often seem like a harsh contract compared to most Spanish women’s confident personalities. Still, their tendency to live at home with their family until marriage, or around the age of thirty years if not, means that their actual life experience may be a little lacking. So, always be cautious of the potential for Spanish women to be a little more naïve in this regard, and ensure that you don’t take things too quickly. Still, they’ll often be friendly, personable, and love to chat, so making an initial connection with Spanish women is typically relatively easy compared to many other nations.