Spanish church loses more and more members

This is reported by Die Tagespost. In 2019, only 27 per cent of the Spanish population identified as non-believers. In 2021, this percentage rose to 37 per cent. The German magazine writes this based on the Spanish think tank Ferrer i Guardia Foundation.

For the first time, the non-religious people are in the majority in the age group below 34 years (56 per cent). In the age group 18–24-year-olds, it is even 63 per cent. Above 65, the non-believers are 21 per cent.

Tax return

The number of people who practice their religion is also declining. The number of regular churchgoers has fallen to 18 per cent.

In the tax return, 11 per cent state that they only send their special taxes to the Catholic Church. In 1998, this was 36 per cent. In Spain, the taxpayer can decide for himself whether his special tax of 0.7 per cent goes to a religious community or for other social and cultural purposes or to the state.

In addition, 90 per cent of marriages are exclusively civil marriages, with the number of marriages falling by 45 per cent in 2020-2021.

According to the “Ferrer i Guardia Foundation”, the figures show that the corona pandemic has accelerated the progressive loss of importance of religion in the lives of the Spanish population.

Fewer students take religion

The news from the Guardia Foundation is confirmed by the report on Spain’s News that fewer students are taking the subject of religion. The news platform reports this based on the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) data. For the first time, less than six out of ten students are enrolled in the subject this academic year. Every season, the subject is losing a few per cent points.