Government in Gay Marriage row

Spain's Justice Minister, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, commented yesterday that he would prefer to leave Spain's gay marriage laws unchanged.

The comments made in a live radio interview contradict opinions given by other senior Partido Popular members, including the PM, who have spoken of their intention to reverse the contraversial law passed in 2005 by the PSOOE administration.

Mariano Rajoy has previously said how he was not against gay civil unions but didn't approve of the term "marriage".

"My party's criteria is that we will wait and see what the Constitutional Court says," Gallardón said. "My opinion is that there is no reason for it to be declared unconstitutional, but it is up to the Constitutional Court to decide."

The court is expected to make a ruling in the near future following an appeal filed by the PP shortly after the law was originally passed.

The Minister's comments brought criticism from other PP politicians. "If we didn't think that it was unconstitutional we would not have voted against it. We would not have presented amendments and we would not have filed an appeal," said Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz.

The PP's spokesman in Congress, Alfonso Alonso, said that the view was Gallardón's "own opinion."