Spain

Spain is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament. Its modern history has been marked by the 1936-39 civil war followed by a long period of dictatorship under General Franco until his death in 1975. The country subsequently transitioned to democracy and became part of the European Union in 1986.¹

The population of around 48 million people² enjoys constitutional guarantees of secularism, though in practice there are extant religious privileges, in particular for the Catholic Church. According to a 2023 survey, 56% of Spaniards state that they are Catholic, however only 19.3% are practising, 29% of the population identify as atheist, agnostic or as a non-believer, and 2.6% adhere to other religions.³

Constitution and government

Article 16 of the Constitution⁴ guarantees “freedom of ideology, religion and worship” to individuals and communities with no restrictions other than those necessary for the protection of public order. It goes on to state:

“No religion shall have a state character. The public authorities shall take into account the religious beliefs of Spanish society and shall consequently maintain appropriate cooperation relations with the Catholic Church and other confessions.”⁵

Subsequent articles of the Constitution provide guarantees for the rights to freedom of expression, conscience, assembly and association. Other laws further regulate the right to freedom of religion or belief. Specifically, the Organic Law on Religious Freedom (Ley Orgánica 7/1980, de 5 de julio, de Libertad Religiosa)⁶ specifies that “freedom of religion” includes the right to freely express one’s belief or lack thereof. However, Article 3(2) of the same law states:

“The activities, purposes and entities related to the study and experience of psychic or parapsychological phenomena, or the dissemination of spiritual or humanistic values or other analogous purposes unrelated to religious ones are outside the scope of protection of this Law”⁷

Belief groups are required to register with the authorities in order to be recognized and conferred the associated benefits. Groups registered in the Ministry of Justice’s Registry of Religious Entities may buy, rent, and sell property, and may act as a legal entity in civil proceedings.⁸

To date, the State has specific cooperation agreements with the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities (Federación de Entidades Religiosas Evangélicas de España – FEREDE), the Islamic Commission of Spain (Comisión Islámica de España – CIE), and Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (Federación de Comunidades Judías de España – FCJE), in addition to a Concordat with the Holy See. These agreements permit the placement of teachers of religion in schools and the placement of chaplains in hospitals, the military, and prisons. These groups are also eligible for independently administered government grants. The government funds religious services within the prison system for Catholic and Muslim groups, including Sunday Catholic Mass, Catholic confession, and Friday Islamic prayer.⁹

Groups seeking to sign cooperation agreements with the State must first acquire notorio arraigo (“deeply rooted” or permanent) status through the Ministry of the Presidency’s Office of Religious Affairs. Registered religions with notorio arraigo status include Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Buddhist Union, the Church of Jesus Christ, the Episcopal Orthodox Assembly of Spain and Portugal, and, most recently, the Baha’i Community of Spain.¹⁰

The government recognizes the civil validity of marriages performed by all religious communities with cooperation agreements and notorio arraigo status. Members of religious groups without these statuses must also marry in a civil ceremony for the marriage to be legally recognized.¹¹

If a group applying for registration is considered by the Office of Religious Affairs to be a non-religious group, the applicant can register as an association. The association’s register is managed by the Ministry of the Interior. Becoming an association provides legal status but no other benefits. Associations can request to be deemed of public benefit, a status which provides the same tax benefits as for charities.¹²

Catholic privilege

The government has a Concordat with the Holy See¹³ that grants the Catholic Church additional benefits not available to the three other groups with which the government has agreements.

Federal tax law provides taxpayers the option of allocating up to 0.7 percent of their income tax to the Catholic Church or to a non-governmental organization (NGO), but not to other religious groups. In 2024, 9 million tax payers chose to allocate some of their taxes to the Catholic Church, bringing in €382 million to the institution.¹⁴ Several religious groups, including Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists, and the Church of Jesus Christ, have asked to have their groups included on the tax form.¹⁵ In March 2023, the Council of Ministers approved a change to the Concordat with the Holy See to exclude tax exemptions related to construction and installation projects and special contributions.¹⁶

Education and children’s rights

Article 27 of the Constitution enshrines the right to education with the purpose of “the full development of human personality with due respect for the democratic principles of coexistence and for basic rights and freedoms.”¹⁷  Guaranteeing “the right of parents to ensure that their children receive religious and moral instruction in accordance with their own convictions.”¹⁸

The Concordat with the Holy See specifically addresses education stating, “the education given in public educational centers will be respectful of the values ​​of Christian ethics.”¹⁹ It also grants the Holy See oversight over those permitted to teach classes on Roman Catholicism, as well as textbooks and the curriculum.

Religious education classes are provided in religions other than Catholicism in public schools when at least 10 interested students require it. In those cases, the State funds the salaries of teachers providing Islamic or Protestant religious education, as well as Catholicism. The Jewish community is also eligible for State funding for Jewish teachers, but has declined funding to date. The courses are not mandatory. Those students who elect not to take religious education courses are required to take an alternative course covering general social, cultural, and religious themes. Either the national Ministry of Education or the regional entity responsible for education certifies teachers’ credentials. However, religious groups are responsible for selecting teachers for their particular religion. In the case of private religious schools, if the school receives no State funding it must gain additional authorization from regional education authorities in order to function.²⁰

Child sexual abuse in the Catholic church

As of June 2023, bishops at the Episcopal Conference of Spain acknowledged awareness of 927 cases of sexual abuse of children in Church institutions or activities between 1945 and 2022.²¹ According to El País newspaper this figure is an underestimation and payment of reparations to victims is too slow.²²

Family, community and society

Women’s rights

While personal social freedoms are generally respected in Spain, women still face social disadvantages. During its most recent Universal Periodic Review process at the UN High Commission for Human Rights, a number of treaty bodies expressed concern at the “persistence of entrenched traditional attitudes and stereotypes concerning the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society”. This is reflected in the Spanish media where traditionalist and sexist roles are commonly promoted.²³

The UN has also raised concerns about the prevalence of violence against women in the country and the high percentage of women who have died as a result of gender-based violence within a close relationship.²⁴

Abortion

Abortion is legal in Spain up to week 14 of pregnancy and up to 22 weeks in cases of serious risk to the life or health of the pregnant person, or serious fetal abnormalities.²⁵

In 2022, the Episcopal Conference of Spain published a statement denouncing “legislative projects” against the “defense of life”. This statement appeared to be in support of an unsuccessful appeal made by the far-right political party Vox, against a 2022 law that criminalizes obstructing a woman’s ability to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy or a health care professional’s ability to assist with a termination.²⁶

The 2022 law also enables access to abortion services within the public health service for 16 and 17 year olds without the need for parental consent and limits the right of health care professionals to conscientious objection.²⁷ However, significant barriers still exist to women accessing services as the majority of abortions are carried out in private centers and some regions still have no such services available in public hospitals.²⁸ The lack of such services in many communities stems from the conscientious objection of a majority of doctors who refuse to carry out the procedure due to their religious beliefs.²⁹

LGBTI+ rights

In 2005, Spain became the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, and the same law allows same-sex couples to adopt children.³⁰

More recently in March 2023, a new law came into force that guarantees access to health services and legal gender recognition based on self-determination for transgender people. It also outlaws conversion therapies. However, according to the Spanish association against conversion therapies, a number of churches throughout the country continue to promote events that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation with complete impunity.³¹

In the same year, Madrid’s Regional Assembly voted to modify the 2023 law for application at regional level by banning gender recognition based on self-determination and cutting education initiatives promoting LGBTI rights.³² The changes were championed by the conservative leadership of the Assembly with the support of the extreme right party, Vox.³³

Expression, advocacy of humanist values

The expression of humanist or secular values is generally respected.

There are some concerns that the 2015 Public Security Act³⁴ (known by its critics as the “gag law”) places some undue limits on freedom of expression and association on “public order” grounds. Under the law all protests must be registered with a local authority and protesters are forbidden from demonstrating near government buildings. Disseminating unauthorized images of law enforcement can also carry a penalty of up to €30,000. This law has been used against journalists, as well as artists and asylum seekers, who have shown “disrespect towards a law enforcement official” or “disobedience or resistance to the authorities or their agents”.³⁵

Defamation (known as ‘calumny’ or ‘injury’) is punishable by up to two years in prison under Articles 205-216 of the Penal Code.³⁶ The laws have been used to intimidate journalists reporting on allegations of government corruption.³⁷ Further articles of the Penal Code criminalize “glorification of terrorism” and “defamation of the Monarch and their descendants, the State and its symbols”. Musicians, particularly rappers, have faced prosecutions under these provisions.³⁸

Media freedom

While Spain has a free press that covers a wide range of perspectives and actively investigates high-level corruption, consolidation of private ownership and political interference at public outlets are said to pose threats to media independence. Political instability and the rise of the far-right in politics has led to a growth in attacks on the media. Political parties like Vox target the media, with its supporters stirring up hate against journalists on social media and physically harassing them on the ground.³⁹

In 2023, a journalist received a two-year prison sentence for publishing information about a murder, despite the court recognizing that the published information was true.⁴⁰

De facto “blasphemy” law

Articles 522-526 of the Spanish Penal Code define crimes against “freedom of conscience, religious feelings and respect for the dead.” Article 524 stipulates that,

“Anyone who in a temple, place of worship or in religious ceremonies commits acts of profanation that offend legally protected religious feelings will be punished with imprisonment from six months to one year or a fine of 12 to 24 months of their salary”⁴¹

Article 525 acts as a de facto ‘blasphemy’ law and is sometimes enforced. Article 525 of the Spanish Penal Code reads:

“1. Those that, in order to offend the feelings of members of a religious confession, make public derision, orally, by writing or through any type of document, of their dogmas, beliefs, rituals or ceremonies or mistreat, also publicly, those who practice that religion, will be punished with a fine between eight to twelve months of their salary.

2. Those that make public derision, orally or by writing, of people who do not confess any religion will incur in the penalties set in the previous paragraph.”

There have been a number of prosecutions under this law in the last few years. Most of these cases have been brought by Abogados Cristianos (the Association of Christian Lawyers) (see “Highlighted cases” below). Extremist groups have used the law to censor artists, activists and journalists.⁴² In 2023, criminal investigations for offending religious feelings were initiated against two magazine editors for a satirical depiction of the baby Jesus⁴³ and against two television presenters and an actor who parodied the Virgin of El Rocío in a TV sketch.⁴⁴

Non-governmental organizations have called for reform of these laws which unduly restrict freedom of expression.⁴⁵ There have been several attempts by different groups and political parties to get Article 525 repealed. The latest bill proposed by the government follows a lawsuit brought by Abogados Cristianos against an actress who showed an image of Jesus with the head of a cow on a popular television programme on New Year’s Eve 2024.⁴⁶

Freedom of assembly

Freedom of assembly is guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution, which states:

1. The right to peaceful unarmed assembly is recognized. The exercise of this right shall not require prior authorization.
2. In the case of meetings in public places and of demonstrations, prior notification shall be given to the authorities, who may only forbid them when there are well founded grounds to expect a breach of public order, involving danger to persons or property.”

Spanish law requires prior notification in order for a public demonstration to be considered legal. Those who fail to comply with this requirement face fines. The “gag law” also places further restrictions on freedom of assembly including fines of up to €600,000 for participating in unauthorized protests near key buildings or infrastructure.⁴⁷

Spanish civil society organizations claim that the law grants the authorities broad discretion to decide on the dissolution of a meeting or a peaceful demonstration. They explain that the Penal Code has introduced the concept of “large gathering” as an aggravating factor of a crime and that this has affected the work of human rights defenders to monitor human rights violations during protests. Human rights organizations have reported an escalation in police violence during demonstrations.⁴⁸

Highlighted cases

In April 2023, during semana santa (holy week), the television channel TV3 broadcast a programme during which an actress appeared dressed as the Virgin of Rocío with a baby doll as the baby Jesus in her arms, while the presenters made jokes about her sexual life and her Andalusian accent. In response, a legal complaint was filed by Abogados Cristianos (the Association of Christian Lawyers) and is pending at the time of writing.

In December 2022, the satirical magazine Mongolia printed a recreation of the nativity scene on its front cover depicting Jesus with a poop emoji with the title, “The son of God has been born! He’s just like his Father!” The Institute of Social Policy (IPSE) called for the magazine to be shut down immediately and filed a lawsuit against it. Another lawsuit was filed by Abogados Cristianos and the conservative organization Hazte Oír. In January 2024, the judge dismissed the complaint, but three other legal complaints are still pending against the two magazine editors at the time of writing.

In October 2019, the European Court of Human Rights agreed to hear a complaint lodged by the Association of Christian Lawyers against an artist whose 2015 photography exhibition featured the word “pederasty,” formed by consecrated communion wafers. The Association of Christian Lawyers filed a lawsuit against the artist, alleging he committed an “offense against religious sentiments and desecration.” A regional court in Pamplona had previously declined to hear the case, and the country’s Constitutional Court declared it to be inadmissible.⁴⁹

Three women, Rocío Ballesta, Antonia Ávalos and a third woman who has chosen anonymity, were dragged through five years of criminal proceedings following a peaceful march in 2014, on charges of “crimes against religious sentiment”, before the case was finally thrown out in October 2019. The case dated back to 2014 when the accused carried a large latex model of a human vulva during a general worker’s union march. The model, named the coño insumiso (rebellious pussy) was a parody of the effigies of saints and the Virgin Mary, which are still carried during religious parades in Spain. The three women said they were marching on behalf of the “Guild of the Sacred Rebellious Pussy and the Sacred Burial of Social and Workers’ Rights” in order “to draw attention to their belief that the church’s teaching denied women fundamental rights at a time when the government was planning to introduce a restrictive abortion law.”

The case was first dropped in 2016 because the court found that the defendants were entitled to the freedom of expression represented by “publicly proclaiming that you don’t follow a religious faith”. However, the Association of Christian Lawyers then brought a civil action for “crimes against religious sentiment” and “mocking Catholic symbols and dogma”. During the second trial, defendant Ávalos said, “We feel that we are being persecuted and criminalised for defending women’s sexual and reproductive rights”. Campaigners condemned the new trial as an attack on free expression. Finally dismissing the case on 11 October 2019, the judge said the point of the parade had not been to offend religious sensibilities but to “defend social, workers’ and feminist rights.” This appears to leave the door open to other cases where “offending religious sensibilities” is considered part of the intention.⁵⁰

In July 2017, the Spanish actor Willy Toledo wrote a Facebook post to express his indignation after three women were charged for offense against religious feelings by parading a large model of vagina through the streets of Seville during what was called the Procession of the insubordinate pussy. The Facebook post read:

“I shit on God and have enough shit left over to shit on the dogma of the saintliness and virginity of the Virgin Mary. This country is unbearably shameful. I’m disgusted. Go fuck yourselves. Long live the Insubordinate Pussy.”⁵¹

The Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers filed a complaint against Toledo. In May 2018, instead of appearing at court, the actor called a press conference where he stated that he had not committed any crime and therefore would not appear before a judge. In September 2018, the Court of Madrid issued an arrest warrant against Toledo after he twice failed to appear and testify in court.⁵²

In February 2020, Toledo was acquitted of charges of obstruction of justice and hurting religious sentiments.⁵³

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