Spanish politician says grandparents should encourage their children to have more babies

Madrid, Spain, Jul 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm

On the occasion of Grandparents' Day, which traditionally falls on the feast of Sts. Joachim and Ann, a leading politician in the Spanish region of Galicia, Manuel Fraga, reminded older adults that their role in increasing the country's birth rate is to encourage their children to have more babies, "because today people are not having enough."

Fraga made his comments in front of 400 grandparents from all over Spain gathered in Santiago de Compostela.

"Children are the best investment for the future of Galicia, and grandparents must guarantee that this investment is made," said Fraga.

Fraga praised the work of grandparents in contributing through their "daily efforts" to the building up of a "more just, more humane, more united" society.  Likewise, he reminded them that the enjoy a "privileged position" for "encouraging" their children to have "more babies," thus increasing the birth rate and contributing to the development of the country.

Fraga underscored the "important and marvelous" relationship which grandparents have with their grandchildren. 

As a grandparent himself, Fraga says he enjoys immensely his seven grandchildren and considers them a "treasure."  But, he lamented the fact that his children "married too late, because if they had done it like me I would already be a great-grandfather."