Gema Maldonado Cantero
Photos: Sergio Betancort
There were not hundreds of guests, nor did the groom wear the traditional jacket. In a simple room of the Justice of the Peace in the municipality of Teguise, Enrique Manuel Rodríguez took the most important step of his life, marrying his boyfriend, Alejandro Sandoval. So far everything seems normal, since last April homosexual couples have the right to marry in Spain. The curious thing about this wedding, celebrated on the rainy morning of March 1, is that the person who was next to Enrique and to whom he said "I do" is called Lorena Laso and is a woman.
Like any self-respecting bride, she was dressed in white, although she did not feel like a real bride. Lorena was only the representative in Spain of Alejandro, her brother-in-law and the real protagonist of the wedding, who has not been able to come to Spain from Colombia to marry in person the one who has been his boyfriend for more than five years.
This is the first gay proxy wedding held in Lanzarote. It is a formula that allows two contracting parties to marry, even if one of them is not present, as long as they have legally authorized a person to represent them physically during the ceremony.
The same afternoon of his wedding, Enrique took a plane to Bogotá to meet his husband and start, this time together, the honeymoon.
Five years apart
"We met when Alejandro lived on the island and we fell in love. Then he left and we continued the relationship by phone and internet," said Enrique.
Precisely the internet has played an essential role in this picturesque wedding since Alejando has been able to follow his own wedding live from his home in the city of Cali, Colombia, through the computer and a "web cam" connected via the Internet with another camera installed in the Justice of the Peace.
When Judge José Rafael Farray pronounced the words that turned the couple into a legal marriage, the five guests to the wedding and the 2 witnesses burst into applause and the representative of the Colombian groom, Lorena, asked with a sense of humor to Enrique "a little kiss to the bride", which everyone acclaimed with laughter.
After the signatures of rigor, the ceremony ended with the delivery by the Secretary of the Court, Mª Luz Nevel, of the desired family book to the new husband, who without losing a minute approached the computer available in the room and could see his recent husband who greeted him with an affectionate "How are you, hubby?".
Alejandro is 27 years old and after spending some time in Lanzarote, he decided to return to his country of origin because he could not adapt, although he had already started a relationship with Enrique Manuel, 38 years old and resident in Teguise. When some time later Alejandro wanted to return to Spain he could not due to paperwork problems and since then Enrique has traveled twice a year to Cali to visit his boyfriend.
Since they learned that the Zapatero Government was going to initiate the processing of the Law that recognized their right to marry, Enrique and Alejandro were clear: "We wanted to get married to end the distance, because we reached a point where we either broke up or managed to be together forever." And fortunately the latter will be fulfilled.
The party will have to wait
With the celebration of the civil wedding, Alejandro can now obtain the residence permit in Spain, so his situation will be legal. "I hope we can both return together on March 25" says Enrique, the date on which his vacation and the 15-day permit that corresponds to every newly married person conclude. Then he will return to his post as postman in La Villa. That they can return together definitively will depend on the time it takes for the legal procedures in Colombia.
At the exit of the Court a rain of rice awaited Enrique and Lorena, although in this case accompanied by a rain of water that unloaded the clouds over Teguise at that time of day, past 12:15 in the morning. "You have married on a rainy day, just like Leticia and the Prince" was one of the comments that some guests made while they surrounded the newly married to wish him all the happiness. A moment that Alejandro could also enjoy in Colombia thanks to a domestic video camera that at that moment held his representative Lorena.
Victoria is one of the witnesses and is a friend of Enrique since he distributed the mail in Playa Honda: "I have known them both for years and we are very happy today for the wedding".
Lorena, the "false bride", Colombian like her brother-in-law, did not stop smiling and was happy to have been able to make the wedding a reality. "My brother-in-law and Alejandro have been together for many years and we have all seen their relationship very well and now the wedding".
The essential party in every wedding will have to wait until the newlyweds return to Spain, although Enrique certainly has not missed the obligatory bachelor party, which included a party with six boys in Arrecife.
