How Gibraltar Became Europe’s Pandemic Wedding Hot Spot

The tiny British territory at the tip of Spain, with its open border and lack of restrictions, has become the go-to place for couples looking to wed.

Travel and travel planning are being disrupted by the worldwide spread of the coronavirus. For the latest updates, read The New York Times’s Covid-19 coverage here.

When Je’nell Griffin’s husband proposed to her in November, she dreamed of having a big church ceremony in her hometown, Los Angeles, where she imagined gliding down the aisle in an ethereal gown flanked by scores of friends and family.

But eight months later, after her plans were upended by the coronavirus pandemic, the 36-year-old talent recruiter found herself exchanging vows in a small conference room on a yacht hotel in Gibraltar — a tiny British territory nestled under a towering rock on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

Like many of the couples who married there this summer, Ms. Griffin had never heard of Gibraltar until it appeared at the top of a Google search for “the easiest place to get married in Europe.”

At a time when countries around the world are curtailing wedding ceremonies and imposing strict travel restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Gibraltar has welcomed couples of all nationalities, including Americans, who are determined to perform their nuptials despite the obstacles posed by the pandemic.

Other couples who have faced wedding restrictions in their own countries have also seized the opportunity to marry in Gibraltar this summer, ahead of a potential second wave of the virus.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/travel/virus-gibraltar-weddings.html

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