The Canary Islands are a popular destination for expats to relocate to, but a startling new statistic may make British couples eyeing up the island’s Spanish sun think twice before making the move.
Despite being a collection of small islands, the Canaries is the top location for marital dissolution in Spain.
It has the highest rates of divorce, separation or annulments of anywhere in the country for 2023, with 247.3 per 100,000 residents, according to the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).
Incredibly, the Canaries’ status as the divorce capital of Spain isn’t new; it’s topped the list since 2019.
From January to December 2023, the Canary Islands’ civil courts recorded 5,473 requests for marital dissolution. This was up 1.4 percent on the figure from 2022, according to the Superior Court of Justice.
This pattern bucks the national trend, as the number of requests for marital dissolutions fell by three percent, compared with the year before.
In 2023, there were 52,803 consensual divorces – this was 4.2% down on the year before – while non-consensual divorces fell by half a percent.
Consensual separations fell 8.2 percent to 2,369, and non-consensual separations fell by 11.5 percent, to reach 1,039. The national rate was 192.1 per 100,000, significantly less than in the Canary Islands.
Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Murcia, Andalusia were all the next on the list. These regions are also all popular with Brits, but there is nothing in the data to suggest that it’s British people that are driving the figures.
Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia are next on the list.
The lowest rates were found in the Basque Country in the north, Castilla y León, Madrid, Extremadura, and Cantabria.
Despite the rates of divorce in the Canaries, Brits shouldn’t be concerned. In fact, more and more tourists are soon going to be able to flock to the sun-soaked islands.
In a bid to enhance tourism and strengthen economic ties, the Canary Islands are set to reopen a £43 million ferry route to Morocco, marking a significant milestone in regional cooperation.
The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, recently met with the Moroccan consul, Fatiha El Kamouri, to expedite the necessary procedures.
