Spanish Society After The Democratic Transition - Sociopolitical and Religious Views

Sociopolitical and Religious Views

After 39 years of Theoconservative National-Catholic Francoism, Spanish society as a whole has consistently showed a secular, left-leaning trend. Through 30 years of liberal democracy, the socialdemocratic Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) has been 22 years in office, although the liberal-conservative People's Party (PP) has since then steadily grown and has recently governed for eight years. Large regions as Andalusia or Extremadura have had PSOE regional governments since democracy was re-established in the country. Ecosocialist-Eurocommunist United Left has traditionally been the distant fourth political force in Spain, and recently has further lost some of its presence and representation. The Patriotic feeling is not generalized as a result of the overexploitation of national symbols and references by the Francoist regime. Nationalisms and regionalisms are strong in spite of the high decentralization of the Spanish state, especially in Catalonia and the Basque country.

While Roman Catholicism is still the largest nominal religion in Spain, most Spaniards -especially the younger— choose to ignore the Catholic teachings in morals, politics or sexuality, and don't attend Mass regularly. Agnosticism and Atheism enjoy social prestige, accordingly to the general Western European secularization. Other religions like Christian Protestantism or Islam are on the rise, but only linked to the increase of immigrant population and the large acceptance of Evangelism among the Roma people, not the rank-and-file Spaniard. Culture wars are far more related to politics than religion, and the huge lack of popularity of typically religion-related issues like Creationism prevent them from being used in such conflicts. Revivalist efforts by the Roman Catholic Church and other creeds have not had any significant success out of their previous sphere of influence.

According to the Eurobarometer 69 (2008), only 3% of Spaniards consider religion as one of their three most important values, while the European mean is 7%.