When the media asked Juan Carlos in 2005 whether he would endorse the bill legalising same-sex marriage that was then being debated in the "Cortes Generales", he answered ""Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica"" ("I am the King of Spain, not of Belgium")a reference to King Baudouin of Belgium, who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising abortion. The King gave his Royal Assent to Law 13/2005 on 1 July 2005; the law legalising same-sex marriage was gazetted in the "Boletín Oficial del Estado" on 2 July, and came into effect on 3 July.