Spain has today raised the minimum age for marriage from 14 to 16.

However, if you include boys and girls between the age 16 and 17, the figure rises, with a total of 74 under-age marriages last year and 99 during the previous. The minimum age for consent in sexual relations was also recently raised in Spain from 13 to 16.

‘Until this change of the law, children aged 14 and 15 were able to get married if they were authorized by a judge.

Both the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, as well as other specialized NGOs, have been asking Spain to raise the marrying age, the lowest in the European Union.

The age of consent in Spain used to be even lower.

According to El Pais (in Spanish), only 365 marriages involving under-16s took place in Spain between 2000 and 2014 – with only five in 2014.

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

In France, Belgium, Sweden, and many other European countries, the minimum marriage age is 18, according to the BBC.

The legislation came into effect Thursday and follows recommendations from United Nations experts and child protection groups.

The average age for tying the knot stands at 37 for men and 34 for women, statistics show.

“‘Fundamentally it’s a measure of protection to avert possible forced marriages, sexual exploitation or offenses against children, especially girls”, said Ana Sastre on behalf of a Spanish charity before the change was officially announced, according to the Daily Mail.