You thought the pressure in this country to get your kid into the right school is fierce. In Spain where good schools are even more scarce, (is that possible?), kids from single-parent households are given special preference. So parents are actually faking divorces to give their kids a leg up.

During March 2007 - the cut-off month for entry into state schools - court officials say the number of official separations compared to other months rose by 50%.

They say the same rise has occurred this year and are currently investigating whether these divorces were genuine.

There’s also a lot of spying and paranoia going on as neighbors compete with one another for the coveted spots. Local private eyes report a boom in business as families try to catch one another in fraud.

Fake divorce to get school places [BBC]