ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses principally Spanish family law but also deals with the characteristics it shares with Italian, Portuguese and French law, together with the differences, particularly in relation to the meaning of ‘shared custody’ and related terms. In the national law and regional laws covering shared custody, priority is given to the divorce or separation agreements reached between parents. In southern European countries, the tendency of the most legal reforms and judicial decisions has been towards establishing that the periods of time that children spend living with each of the parents after separation or divorce should be as equal as possible. The development of shared custody in Spain and other southern European countries has also been discussed, in particular the case of Spain, together with the points of view of experts, professionals, researchers and politicians. Spanish jurisprudence has produced a significant change in relation to shared custody. There has been an increasing tendency in favour of shared custody.
