Spain's same-sex marriage law applies to foreigners

Spain's justice
ministry has ruled that the country's same-sex marriage
law allows marriage to a foreigner regardless of whether
that person's homeland recognizes the partnership,
resolving a snag that arose last month.

Lawmakers in June
made Spain the world's third country to legalize
same-sex marriage, following the Netherlands and Belgium.
Canada has since become the fourth.

Days later,
however, a court in the northeastern Catalonia region said a
Spanish man could not wed his Indian partner because India
does not allow same-sex marriage. However, in a ruling
published Monday in Spain's Official State Bulletin,
the justice ministry rejected that position. It said
it had reached the "conclusion that a marriage between a
Spaniard and a foreigner, or between foreigners of the same
sex resident in Spain, shall be valid as a result of
applying Spanish material law, even if the foreigner's
national legislation does not allow or recognize the
validity of such marriages." (AP)