Months of planning for their long-awaited wedding was dashed as Spain went into lockdown, confining Antonio Mendez and his fiance Mari Carmen Moreno to their flat.
Dejected by the way their nuptials had been ruined by the coronavirus outbreak, the couple retired to the sofa to consider what might have been.
Suddenly, a call on their laptop changed everything. Friends dropped in by Google hangout to stage an online version of the wedding that never was.
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A close confidant of the couple declared them man and wife – even though the wedding is not legal. No matter, it saved the day.
“It was such surprise,” Mr Mendez told The Independent.
“Our friends were dressed in suits and ties and dresses as if it were a real wedding. A friend pronounced us man and wife. It was just like we had held the wedding after all.”
The online nuptials are another example of how Spaniards are braving their way through the pandemic. Health authorities said on Monday 33,080 people have become infected. The death toll rose to 2,182, a 27 per cent increase compared with 24 hours earlier. Only China and Italy have more fatalities than Spain.
Mr Mendez, 32, a teacher, and Ms Moreno, 29, a psychologist, who live in Mula, Murcia, southeastern Spain, had been due to get married on Saturday. The couple have a four-year-old daughter called Lara.
However, as the pandemic escalated, they decided to delay the ceremony until October.
“We had invited lots of elderly relatives and as the whole outbreak got worse we did not think it would be safe,” said Mr Mendez.
The celebrations hosted by Google may not have been quite what they had planned, but the surprise cheered up the couple who, like the rest of Spain, will be confined to their flat until 11 April.
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It means their planned honeymoon in Norway will also be put on hold until after their official wedding.
“We may not even be able to take up our honeymoon when we get married later in the year as Mari is four months pregnant now so we may not be able to go then,” said Mr Mendez.
They are not the only couple who have been forced to improvise when faced with the prospect of cancelling their wedding.
Alba Diaz and Daniel Camino, from A Coruna in northwestern Spain, had to shout “I do!” as they leaned out of their apartment with neighbours cheering them on.
Once again, the unofficial nuptials will have to suffice until the lockdown is over.
