There are few things more difficult to measure than religiosity, faith, beliefs, spirituality and everything that surrounds them. But this is the commitment of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, dependent on the Ministry of the Presidency, with its Barometer on religion and beliefs in Spainprepared from 4,742 interviews online made in March and released now. As EL PAÍS reported on Saturday, the study shows a deeply secularized society, especially among young people. Less than half of the population considers itself Catholic, while new forms of spirituality are advancing. But the barometer allows something more than a first snapshot of the -low- religious temperature in Spain. In its 152 pages, which constitute the first installment of a series that Pluralismo e Convivenza wants to expand every two years, the answers outline an attitude towards religion full of chiaroscuro.
The Church box. Pollsters are wondering about the opinion on the so-called “Church box” of the personal income tax, a system by which the institution receives public funding annually calculated based on the number of taxpayers who mark the cross. The latest annual allocation was 382.4 million euros. What answers do they find? 54% of those interviewed say they do not agree with this system because “religions must finance themselves without the collaboration of the State”.
Less than half of Catholics support this model of sending public resources to the Church, 47%. Among those who profess Catholicism, 5% would only agree “if 0.7% could also be allocated to other religions”; 6% do not agree, but could support “other forms of economic collaboration between the State and religions”; and 34% support the self-financing of confessions.
Against tax benefits. 62% of respondents “very” or “somewhat” agree that religious entities should enjoy “no tax benefits.” Up to 48% of Catholics favor the absence of benefits for religious bodies, which would mean, taken to the extreme, that the Church would have to pay the IBI for its historical and real estate assets.
The theme of religion. 47% believe that confessional religious teaching should be “outside public schools”, compared to 13% who believe that only the Catholic religion should be taught and 10% who believe that “the one with greater presence” should be included, among other responses. 27% of Catholics, i.e. more than one in four, are in favor of eliminating the topic of religion from public classrooms, as are 33% of believers of other confessions.
Division on symbols in public spaces. 31% of respondents believe that “personal religious symbols such as crosses, veils, turbans, etc…” should be allowed in any public place. 14% believe they should be banned in public. 28% say that “it depends on the symbol and the place”.
The issue makes no distinction according to the religion to which the symbol refers, in a context in which Vox wants to ban the burqa and niqab in public spaces to “protect Western identity”, an initiative which has already demonstrated its enormous capacity for polarization in France.
Catholic majority in favor of euthanasia. 74% of those interviewed believe that the regulation of euthanasia is “progress for Spanish society”. A majority of Catholics also think this way, 66%, compared to 51% of believers of other religions. The PP and Vox voted in 2020 against the law regulating this right.
Offended believers. Most believers have heard comments that they find “offensive” about their religion. Specifically, 52% of Catholics and 64% of followers of other religions. The percentages of those who, in the last year, have received “offensive comments or gestures in person” are lower: 9% of Catholics and 25% of believers of other religions.
Negative perception about Islam. Pollsters ask how respondents rate a series of religions from 0 to 10. Among those most present in Spain, the best is Catholicism (5.7), ahead of evangelization (4), Judaism (3.9) and Islam (2.6).
Only 7% have a “very” or “fairly” positive view of the Muslim religion. The percentage of those who have a positive view of this belief decreases with age, from 13% between ages 18 and 24 to 3% after age 65.
“Discomfort” with the religious mix. 34% would feel “uncomfortable” if a close relative married a person of Muslim religion (34%), a percentage which is lower in the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses (30%), Mormons (20%), Jews (11%), Evangelicals (10%) and Catholics (4%).
Secularism as a guarantee of rights. Those who present secularism as a persecutory mania against religion have failed to make this vision adhere. 71% believe that this principle “guarantees religious freedom as a fundamental right”, compared to only 7% who see it as “a negative position towards religion”. 67% of Catholics, more than three out of four, also see secularism as a guarantee of religious freedom.
Multi-religious burials yes, menu not so much. A majority – not overwhelming – believes that the necessary conditions must be promoted so that every person is buried according to their beliefs in public cemeteries (64%), so that the acts of any religion are guaranteed in funeral homes (55%), so that all confessions can establish places of worship equally (53%) and so that the sick can enjoy religious assistance in hospitals provided by public authorities according to their beliefs (52%). Now, those who believe that school menus should take students’ religion into account are – just – a minority (47%). Pollsters do not specifically ask about halal food, which generates the most debate.
Widespread perception of religious freedom. Religious freedom is not only provided for by the Constitution, but “can be exercised without difficulty”, according to 64% of the population. 22% believe the opposite. Among Catholics, the perception of the free exercise of religious freedom is four points higher than among believers of other denominations: 63% versus 59%.
