Spain's courts rule on widow's pension claim and Falange service retirement case

The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia granted a widow's pension to a woman married in Morocco in 1965, overturning a Social Security denial that hinged on the lack of a Spanish civil‑registry record. The court found that the marriage was legally valid despite lost documentation from the former Spanish Sahara and that formal registration should not bar entitlement to benefits.

Separately, Spain's Supreme Court annulled earlier rulings that had counted compulsory service in the Falange as pension‑creditable work. The court held that such service does not constitute contributory work for a standard retirement pension, thereby denying the claimant's request for benefits.

Both decisions clarify the criteria for accessing Spain's public pension system, emphasizing substantive proof of marital validity in one case and limiting the scope of historical compulsory service in the other.