From 18 to 86

On Sunday — Valentine’s Day — what is believed to have been the largest mass wedding in Tijuana’s history took place at Parque Morelos, in the La Mesa delegation of Tijuana.

At just before 11 in the morning, a municipal government representative began a ceremony that bonded 1512 couples in matrimony, sanctioned through previously signed papers by the municipalities responsible for the approval of marriage in Baja California.

Unlike in the United States of America, the Mexican government does not recognize marriage by the church, nor does the church recognize government marriages, and many couples eventually endure two separate ceremonies.

Sunday’s government ceremony included couples as young as 18 years of age and one couple 84 and 86 years old. Thousands of spectators — family and friends of the betrothed — turned out to witness the spectacle. The weather was more than sympathetic, as many jackets were gladly shed in temperatures that approached 80 degrees. By one o’clock in the afternoon, most couples had departed to enjoy private fiestas.

There is no confirmation concerning plans by the local government to hold a similar ceremony next Valentine’s Day.