The paradoxes of love in the Spanish family: a sociological approach

Abstract

This article defines the Spanish family in the context of the “Mediterranean model” and the “individualization society”. The former is characterised by strong social interrelationships between family members and their emotional ties, while the latter is defined by the separateness of citizens and by institutionalising the basis of society in individuals rather than in the family. The work also describes how modern forms of love, both romantic and confluent, are institutionalized in this society, discussing if they coexist or not, how they exist, and which is the dominant form. Finally, it analyzes the degree of strength or fragility of the family institution and the affective relationships that sustain it.  The work concludes that the Spanish family is balancing between the strong resistance to disappear as an institution and its eclipse, crisis, or complete end. This is because, although the Spanish family still retains a large part of its former functions, at the same time as divorce is on the increase and family members are decreasing, it is increasingly ephemeral and a plurality of family forms have emerged that have broken with the traditional dominant model of lifelong romantic marriage. Moreover, the Spanish family is also among the “familist” model and the individual, while the way of loving fluctuates between the traditional patriarchal and the democratic, individual, and communitary. Thus, the thesis I propose qualifies and questions the majority of theoretical works on love and the Spanish family, which argue that the family is inscribed in the “Mediterranean model”. As will be seen, the romantic relationships that have been institutionalised in the Spanish family are more paradoxical, insofar as they are still inscribed in that model, but they are rapidly approaching those of Northern Europe.