In Spain when registering a birth it is the normal practice to give the child two surnames with the fathers surname being chosen before that of the mother. The current law does not stipulate which of the parent's name should come first.
However this could all be about to change if a proposal by the current socialist government ever becomes law. When the birth is registered the registrars will be instructed to put the parents surnames in alphabetical order unless the parents request it to different. Concern is being expressed that this may over time lead to a loss of surnames beginning with the letters in the later end of the alphabet.
When referring to the proposed changes José Antonio Alonso, the socialist party's parliamentary leader is reported as saying "This is more democratic and equal,". The leader of the right wing Partido Popular, Mariano Rajoy, has indicated the party's intention to fight the proposals.
This is however purely an administrative matter as it is quite normal for a Spanish person to choose to be known in day to day life by just one surname of their choice. It could be either that of the mother or the father. an example of this is the Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, is more usually referred to as José Zapatero.
In the case of our local mayor in Orihuela, Mónica Lorente Ramón is normally referred to by just her first surname, Mónica Lorente, other than those that can't be repeated here.
Never mind the priorities of surnames the government should get the priorities for the Spanish economy right first!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please be courteous and add your name rather than 'Anonymous' to your comment, as it may not be published. In the 'Comment as' box above use the drop-down menu and select 'Name/URL'. In the 'Edit profile' pop-up enter your name and press continue. There will be a period of delay before your comment appears on the article until I receive the automatic notification that you have made one and can authorised its publication.
Any comment that includes vulgar language, racist remarks or anything of that nature will either be edited or not published at my discretion.