Till Divorce Do Us Part

When Pilar Jiménez wed in 1961, she knew her marriage would last. "Back then, no one separated," says the 71-year-old Salamanca resident. "Marriage was for life." Indeed, her union — like most that took place in the strongly Catholic environment of Franco's Spain — endured, lasting until her husband's death two years ago. But if her marriage was typical of its era, so too are those of her 10 children: five of them are now divorced.

That's about average in Spain these days. The rate of broken marriages has risen steadily since Spain legalized divorce in 1981. But...

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