On July 23, Spain has raised the minimum age for marriage from 14 to 16.

当地时间7月23日，西班牙将最低婚龄从14岁提升至16岁。

The legislation follows continued pressure from child protection groups and United Nations experts, who asked the country to address the matter in 2010.

迫于儿童保护机构和联合国专家方面持续不断的压力，西班牙终于修改了立法。早在2010年，他们就要求西班牙解决这个问题。

It brings Spanish law in line with most other members of the European Union and comes after the country raised the minimum age for consent for sexual relations from 13 to 16.

这使得西班牙法律与大多数欧盟成员国保持一致，此前西班牙已将性行为法定最低年龄从13岁提升至16岁。

Officials from Unicef and Save the Children encouraged the move in the hope it would boost protection for the country's teenagers.

来自联合国儿童基金会和救助儿童会的官员支持此举动，他们希望此举可以加强对西班牙青少年的保护。

Ana Sastre, speaking on behalf of Save the Children from Spain, previously¹ said: 'Fundamentally it's a measure of protection to avert² possible forced marriages, sexual exploitation or offenses³ against children, especially girls.'

安娜•萨斯特雷曾代表西班牙救助儿童会表示：“从根本上来讲，这是一种保护措施，可以防止任何逼婚、性虐待，以及针对儿童、特别是女童的犯罪。”

National statistics show only a handful of 14-year-olds, who needed permission from a judge to complete the ceremony, have got married in Spain in the last decade.

国家统计数据显示，在过去十年里，西班牙只有一小部分14岁青少年结婚，他们需要经过法官的同意来才能完成结婚仪式。

In the 1990s, however, there were 2,678 marriages involving at least one under-16 - and 12,867 in the 1980s.

然而，在20世纪90年代，2678例婚姻中至少有一方不足16岁，而80年代的相应数据是12867例。

One study by the Statistical⁴ Institute of Catalonia showed that, in 2013, men in the region married at an average age of 33.6 years, compared to 32.6 years for women. Ten years earlier, men married at an average age of 30.7 years and women at 28.7 years.

加泰罗尼亚统计研究所的一项研究表明，2013年，在西班牙加泰罗尼亚，男性平均婚龄为33.6岁，女性为32.6岁。十年前，男性平均婚龄为30.7岁，女性为28.7岁。