Spain affirmed Tuesday that gay marriage is constitutional, upholding a law from 2005.

The constitutional court threw out an appeal made seven years ago by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party after gay marriage was made law by then Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The PP said the socialist government was changing the "secular, legal and constitutional definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman" and that the change would have "repurcusions on Spanish society."

According to El Pais, the law has already allowed over 22,000 couples to marry.

In related news, France "is expected to approve a draft law to legalize gay marriage tomorrow amid an intensifying campaign against the plan by Catholic bishops and the right-French presidenwing opposition," the Irish Times reports.