Spain: Catholicism in retreat as churches from across the Atlantic go on the offensive

Spain’s religious map is changing quickly. Over the past two decades, the number of followers of Baptist, charismatic and Pentecostal churches has increased severalfold. One in every 40 residents of the kingdom now belongs to one of these communities.

Near the Prosperidad metro station in northern Madrid, the Iglesia Bautista del Buen Pastor stands behind a three-metre cross set against a red-brick wall. Inside, the church has benches for roughly 200 people, a cross bearing the words, “This is eternal life, which can be yours,” and a stage large enough for a pastor and a small band with drums and a guitarist.

The article presents this growth as part of a broader religious transformation. It examines how former colonies are reversing a historic pattern by evangelising today’s metropolitan Spain, and how the Catholic Church’s support for Francisco Franco’s regime relates to the country’s present movement away from Catholicism.

It also asks whether the growing strength of evangelical communities could reopen major social debates in Spain. The Sagrada Família, Barcelona’s defining symbol, has been under construction for more than 140 years, but the article focuses on a different change taking place across the country: the rise of churches arriving from across the Atlantic as Catholic affiliation loses ground.

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This is eternal life, which can be yours.