140px|right A government-backed bill to allow same-sex couples to marry and to adopt children has passed the Spanish Congress of Deputies . It has yet to pass in the Spanish Senate , although political commentators are speculating this will be simply a formality, and fully expect the bill to become law. Upon adoption, the law would make Spain the third European country to allow gay marriage, joining Belgium and The Netherlands . Unlike other same-sex marriage countries, Spain's proposal will allow for child adoption . Pope Benedict XVI responded to this first test of his papacy by coming out strongly against the passage of the bill. One senior Vatican official, the head of the Pontifical Council on the Family Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo , commented that the bill was "iniquitous", saying "One cannot say that a law is right simply because it is law." Spain's Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , took office in April last year intending to create a secularized state. Calling the Church's advantages undeniable, he hopes to ease laws in divorce and abortion. Juan Fernando López Aguilar , the Minister of Justice, said "... barriers of discrimination, many of them with deep historical or primitive roots, which affect rights and freedoms and, in a specific way, the extension of free choice in the search for happiness, are an unwritten basic right". The parliament passed the bill with 183 for and 136 against. There were six abstentions. Gays and lesbians gathered in the public gallery cheered when the vote was read.
140px|right A government-backed bill to allow and to adopt children has passed the . It has yet to pass in the , although political commentators are speculating this will be simply a formality, and fully expect the bill to become law. Upon adoption, the law would make the third European country to allow gay marriage, joining and . Unlike other same-sex marriage countries, Spain's proposal will allow for . responded to this first test of his papacy by coming out strongly against the passage of the bill. One senior Vatican official, the head of the Pontifical Council on the Family , commented that the bill was "iniquitous", saying "One cannot say that a law is right simply because it is law." Spain's , took office in April last year intending to create a secularized state. Calling the Church's advantages undeniable, he hopes to ease laws in divorce and abortion. , the Minister of Justice, said "... barriers of discrimination, many of them with deep historical or primitive roots, which affect rights and freedoms and, in a specific way, the extension of free choice in the search for happiness, are an unwritten basic right". The parliament passed the bill with 183 for and 136 against. There were six abstentions. Gays and lesbians gathered in the public gallery cheered when the vote was read.
D
same-sex couples to marry
D
Spanish Congress of Deputies
D
Spanish Senate
D
Spain
R
Belgium and The Netherlands
and
D
child adoption
D
Pope Benedict XVI
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Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo
D
Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
D
Juan Fernando López Aguilar