Protestantism in Spain

Upon the end of the Civil War, about 30 Protestant pastors reportedly fled from the country.{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772711,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624075149/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772711,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 24, 2010 | work=Time | title=Religion: Protestant Persecution | date=21 April 1941 | access-date=22 May 2010}} The British and Foreign Bible Society's Madrid depository was raided by the police and their cache of Bible books was seized, whilst Protestant schools were closed.

During the Francoist dictatorship, religious liberties of the country's 30,000 protestants were curtailed (with the 1945 so-called {{ill|Fuero de los Españoles|es}} or 'Spanish Bill of Rights') all but prohibiting any public activity or announcement, with Protestants also suffering from additional legal harassments and acts of violence deployed against their meeting places.Payne, Stanley [https://books.google.com/books?id=JGoqcg22N4gC&dq Spanish Catholicism: An Historical Overview], p. 186 ,1984 University of Wisconsin Press

While the aforementioned bill granted freedom of private worship, non-Catholic religious services were forbidden in public, to the extent that they could not be held in buildings which had exterior signs indicating it was a house of worship.Wood, James Edward [https://books.google.com/books?id=pKEUoZinc6wC&dq Church and State in the Modern World], p. 3, 2005 Greenwood Publishing Furthermore, while already existing religious buildings were protected, Protestants were forbidden from creating new places of worship or move already existing ones.{{Cite news |date=1959-03-30 |title=Religion: Franco's Protestants |language=en-US |work=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,892433-1,00.html |access-date=2023-12-18 |issn=0040-781X}}

Protestant marriages were not recognized but civilian ceremonies were available, at least when one of the grooms was not Catholic.

In order to bypass the ban on public activities, some Protestant groups constituted in trading companies associated to foreign countries, under the umbrella of the respective foreign embassies, rather than submitting to the Law of Public Associations.{{Cite journal|journal=Anuario de Derecho Eclesiástico del Estado|issn=0213-8123|issue=14|year=1998|page=135; 144|url=https://www.boe.es/biblioteca_juridica/anuarios_derecho/abrir_pdf.php?id=ANU-E-1998-10011900186|first=María|last=Blanco|title=La primera ley española de libertad religiosa. Génesis de la ley de 1967}}

In 1959, the World Evangelical Fellowship called Protestants across the world to pray for the Spanish Protestants.

Both the doctrinal changes introduced in the Second Vatican Council and the foreign diplomatic lobbying forced the Francoist regime to reform religious policy, and so the so-called 'Law of Religious Freedom' was promulgated in 1967.{{Cite journal|year=2001|journal=Anales de Historia Contemporánea|volume=17|title=El miedo a la libertad religiosa. Autoridades franquistas, católicos y protestantes ante la Ley de 28 de junio de 1967|first=Mónica|last=Moreno Seco|url=https://revistas.um.es/analeshc/article/view/56401/54371}} While short of introducing actual religious freedom, the law provided an image of modernization for the regime.{{Sfn|Moreno Seco|2001|p=358}} Protestants expressed their disappointment towards the law.{{Sfn|Moreno Seco|2001|p=358}}

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| image1 = Iglesia de Cristo Madrid. Templo de la Iglesia Evangélica Española en Madrid..jpg

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At present, the Spanish government observes the 1978 Constitution of Spain and the Law of Religious Freedom of 1980, thus guaranteeing many religious liberties to minorities. As of 2009, there reportedly were 1.5 million Protestants living in Spain.[http://wwrn.org/articles/27149/ "Protestants call for 'equal treatment'"], by "El País," December 10, 2007

In 2018, figures released by the national Observatory of Religious Pluralism show there were 4,238 evangelical and Pentecostal/Adventist places of worship in December 2018, a rise of 197 on the previous year. it was also reported that Spain's Pentecostals topped 4,000 congregations, Pentecostals also opened 16 churches every month.{{Cite web|url=https://www.christiantoday.com/article/spanish-evangelicals-celebrate-another-year-of-growth/131419.htm|title=Spanish evangelicals celebrate another year of growth|first=Christian Today staff writer 08 January 2019 | 10:57|last=AM|website=www.christiantoday.com}}

Significant denominations and groups include:

• Spanish Evangelical Church
• Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church - an extra-provincial church of the Anglican Communion
• Baptist Evangelical Union of Spain
• Reformed Churches in Spain

There are also a number of accredited seminaries in the country. These include:

• The Bible Institute and Faculty of Theology of Spain (IBSTE) en Castelldefels, Barcelona.
• The United Evangelical Theological Seminary in Madrid (SEUT)
• The Protestant Faculty of Theology at Madrid (UEBE)
• The Assemblies of God Faculty of Theology in Barcelona

In the early 2020s, the People's Party of the Community of Madrid approached to Madrid-based milieus associated to ultra-conservative evangelical pastor Yadira Maestre, with the regional party branch likewise featuring an avowed goal of uniting "relations with the evangelical churches, around the project and the program of the PP".{{Cite web|url=https://www.epe.es/es/politica/20230327/yadira-maestre-pastora-evangelica-participa-85240378|date=27 March 2023|first=José|last=Rico|publisher=Prensa Ibérica|website=El Periódico de España|title=¿Quién es Yadira Maestre, la pastora evangélica que participa en actos del PP con Feijóo y Ayuso?

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• Christianity in Spain
• Catholic Church in Spain
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Spain
• Anglicanism in Spain
• Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Spain
• Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain
• Conference of Protestant Churches in Latin Countries of Europe

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Spain