The seven -year -old girl is visibly upset while her mother puts next to her to talk to her. Where is your father? How the family law of Spain deals with custody of the child after divorce, especially for expatriders. Parental rights, legal options and real examples of Spanish dishes. Credit: Shutterstock, Fizkes
Find out how family law in Spain after divorce custody of custody with custody with the concern. Discover your parental rights, legal options and examples in the real life of Spanish dishes.
Do fathers get a raw deal in Spain? The custody fight raises big questions about the rights of the fathers
When the British father Jonathan Edwards moved to Spain, he never imagined that he would end up fighting the right to see his own Children – without getting a day in court.
After almost two years, which are locked up in a legal nightmare, his story is doing a bigger debate: do men in Spain equal to when it comes to custody and parenting after separation or divorce?
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The Spanish system: fair or incorrect?
On paper, Spanish family law treats both parents alike. The judges are encouraged to support common custody, wherever possible. But in practice? The groups and activists of fathers say that the system often prefers mothers, especially in the early stages of separation, if temporary measures can take months or even years.
Enter Jonathan Edwards, a British health worker who has spent the past 19 months to fight for contact with his children, while he has faced criminal allegations that were later dropped – and all without, he claims that he has always been explained in court.
“I was separated from my children without a judicial order or explanation,” says Edwards. “No hearing. No interview. No proportionality.”
Closed from the courtroom?
In September 2023, Edwards claimed that he was arrested in Granada for 54 days and held in custody in court, but said that he had never been interviewed by the police or the court.
He also claims that the judge made decisions that his parental rights without always Heard his version of events, violated his right to a fair procedure according to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
By February 2025, all charges were dropped and the courts apparently admitted that the allegations were wrong – but Edwards says that the damage was already done.
“I lost to my children for almost two years. And even now there are no court decisions in placeNo access plan and no recognition of the error. “
A uniform system?
Edwards believes that the Spanish legal system uses a “template” approach for domestic disputes instead of assessing in any case according to its merits.
He also says that as a father, he was given gender-specific assumptions, in particular about the concept of protection-in the mothers as a standard supervisor and fathers are often regarded as potential threats.
While some Spanish judges grant common custody or the same visiting rights, activist groups such as SOS Papá and Padres Y Madres en acción (Pamac) have long argued that men in early custody decisions, especially if allegations – even unfounded, are often emitted – that men are often emitted.
“Men are guilty until he has proven to be innocent,” says Edwards. “And evenly If you are innocently proven, you may never see your children again. ”
Legal aid lottery?
Edwards worsened the matter and said that he had been blocked by the representation of himself and commissioned lawyers for legal assistance who refused to argue his case under the ECHR.
According to him, a lawyer reported that the European Convention on Human Rights was “foreign law” and was not applicable in Spain.
“The legal system is not built for people who Strictly speaking Understand your rights, “he said.” It is built to settle down. “
A bigger question for Spain
Edwards' case is just an example – – But it increases a growing discomfort among Spanish and foreign fathers around how family dishes work.
Are custody decisions really balanced?
Will temporary decisions be permanently without adequate hearings?
Are protective measures applied appropriately or indiscriminately?
Some women abuse the system – but the real problem is that the system often does not recognize the difference.
Spain has made progress In recent yearswith some regions that promote co-parents and common responsibility. But activists say a lot still depends on the judge, the province and the prevailing assumptions about gender roles.
A call to reform – or at least attention
Now for free, but not able to work based on police records that are still kept in the file Parents from justice (Fathers for Justice Spain), a platform for human rights representation that calls for legal reform and accountability.
He is appealed to the European Court of Human Rights – – although his case was considered inadmissible because of not have All legal routes in Spain exhausted.
He hopes that his story will serve as a wake -up call.
“I don't ask for a special treatment,” he says. “I ask how a parent is treated – not a suspect.”
The conclusion:
Spain can say that it supports the same parenting. But if fathers like Jonathan Edwards remain without access to their children, and without You have to be surprised by a real day in court – is the system Really just?
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