You are stepping into a family system with its own history and loyalties; try to consider how you might set boundaries without rejecting his mum I’m in my 30s and have been living in Spain for a decade. My partner is Spanish and we have lived together for a year. The bond he has with his mum sometimes makes me feel angry, jealous and helpless. I’m aware that, culturally, Spanish people often have closer bonds with their families and I try to accept that. He is an only child and his father left his family when he was a teenager and started another. I feel my partner has developed an unhealthy and codependent relationship with his mum.