Religious Change in Spain

Abstract

The changes religion is experiencing in Spain can be analysed through the prism of three broad social dynamics or logics. The first is the sweeping individual secularization seen among the Spanish population. The second is the separation between Church and State, which is experiencing major difficulties. The third is the recent settlement in Spain of a large immigrant population, which is causing fractures in a previously homogenous religious community. The first two follow the lines of religious modernization seen in other European countries. The third, however, is more inherent to the contemporary era of globalization.

The Politics of Religious Heritage: Framing Claims to Religion as Culture in Spain

“…Given that migrants originate from regions as diverse as North Africa, Sub‐Saharan Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and Eastern Europe, this wave of immigration has intensified the diversification of Spain's religious landscape. Currently, there are about 1.7 million Muslims, 1.5 million Protestants (most of them evangelical or Pentecostal Christians), 500,000 Orthodox Christians, 100,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, and 40,000 Jews (Pérez‐Agote ). As Griera et al.…”

Estratégias de Gênero em Contexto Diaspórico: o caso dos missionários pentecostais brasileiros em Barcelona.

“…Apesar desses processos de mudança, a maioria da população espanhola ainda é católica (73,5%); no entanto, os imigrantes católicos são uma minoria e o número de evangélicos tem aumentado significativamente (SANTIAGO, 2010;PÉREZ-AGOTE, 2010). …”

Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians

“…As Gunther Dietz explains, the unofficial count of self-identifying Muslims in the country in 2009 was around 700,000 ( [1], p. 3). Alfonso Pérez-Agote places the count closer to (or even above) one million as of 2010 ( [2], p. 230). The majority resides in and around the urban centers of Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia, and Andalusia.…”

“…In the late 1990s, public condemnations of the festivals from various quarters began to grow louder and more frequent in conjunction with the increased size and visibility of the nation's population of Muslims from immigration and other factors 1 . In light of the growing presence of Islam in Spain, did the Popular 1 For data and analysis related to the increase of Muslims in Spain, see [1,2]. As Gunther Dietz explains, the unofficial count of self-identifying Muslims in the country in 2009 was around 700,000 ( [1], p. 3).…”