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In the third quarter of 2009, 54.3% of weddings were civil weddings, 8.6 percentage points up on the same quarter of 2008, according to Eustat data. This figure is down on the second quarter of 2009, when nearly 56% of the marriages were held in registry offices.

In July, August and September 2009, there were 2,652 weddings in the Basque Country, which was 12% down on the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. 305 of the couples were resident in Álava, 903 in Gipuzkoa and 1,349 in Bizkaia. The number of weddings of couples residing outside the Basque Country came to 95.

July was the favorite month to get married

July was the month with most weddings (1,157), followed by September with 1,038. On the other hand, August continued to be the month when fewest weddings were held (457) and they were also down 18% on the same period of the previous year.

2,569 men and 2,584 women resident in the Basque Country married in the 2,652 weddings held in the third quarter of 2009. This was the first marriage for 2.363 men (92%), while 5 widowers and 201 divorcés remarried. The percentage of first marriages for women was the same as the figures for men: the number of single brides came to 2,380 (92%), while there were 7 widows and 197 divorcées.

With regard to the distribution of marriages according to the age of spouses, 79% of grooms were over 30 years old, while this percentage stood at 62% in the case of the brides. Compared to the same period of the previous year, this figure was up for both sexes, even though the increase was more dramatic in the case of women, as only 57% of them were over 30 in 2008 compared to 75% of men.