A QUARTER of Spanish people would 'accept' or 'forgive' their husband or wife being unfaithful to them, according to a recent survey covering 40 different countries.
France is even more liberal, with nearly half the population considering cheating 'morally acceptable', with 12 per cent saying it is 'not a moral issue'.
The Global Views on Morality survey, carried out by the USA's Pew Research Center, took the views of just over 1,000 people per country on extra-marital relations, gambling, homosexuality, abortion, sex before marriage, drinking alcohol, divorce and the use of contraceptives.
In terms of infidelity, 78 per cent of respondents said this was morally wrong, with France being the only country where less than half the population considered extra-marital affairs unacceptable.
Germany was not far behind, with 40 per cent saying they would accept their partner having affairs, whilst Spain, in fifth place for liberal views, saw 27 per cent agreeing they would tolerate it and eight per cent saying morals did not enter into the equation.
At the other end of the scale, 90 per cent of respondents in Palestine, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia – all predominantly Muslim countries – said being unfaithful was morally wrong.
Fewer than half the countries interviewed approved of homosexuality, and unsurprisingly – given that it was one of the pioneers in introducing same-sex marriage and adoption – Spain is the most liberal about the issue with only six per cent of respondents considering it morally incorrect, 38 per cent saying it was acceptable and the rest stating it was not a moral issue.
Seven in 10 people in El Salvador are against homosexuality, including 40 per cent of Mexicans and Brazilians – another country where same-sex marriage is legal – and half the Venezuelans, whilst in the USA nearly four in 10 – 37 per cent – found all-male or all-female relationships morally wrong despite marriage being legal in a number of states.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com