On December 20, the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE), published its annual report on religious freedom in the country between 2023 and 2024.

The entity, which “brings together and represents the great majority of the evangelical churches before the Spanish government”, was founded in 1986, and since then it tries to communicate the needs of the Protestant community to the state administrations.

It also works to improve “religious freedom in our country and to establish constructive cooperation relations with the authorities and society”.

This representation is increasingly necessary, given the growing number of evangelical churches and places of worship in Spain, which “are currently over 3,300”, around 59% of the places of worship of all religious minorities.

With this report, FEREDE firstly aims to make visible and denounce situations of discrimination. But, it also seeks to highlight the value of religious fact before government institutions, as Carolina Bueno, executive secretary of the organisation, explains.

The entity acknowledges the gradual improvement in religious freedom in the country over the last 50 years; but points out that “much remains to be done, and the evangelical community continues to face significant difficulties”.

Challenges to religious freedom

The report identifies different types of difficulties in the experience of religious freedom.

Those include the lack of appreciation of the religious fact shared by public administrations; the ignorance of religious diversity; or the inequality and discrimination towards minority faiths as opposed to the Catholic faith, with a lack of neutral regulations.

Álvaro Serrano, a member of the legal team of FEREDE, says that “this leads to differences in funding, religious assistance and education, and the protection of places of worship, among other things”.

At the same time, the report makes visible problems and obstacles faced by the Protestant community. A key example is the delay in providing a solution to all those ministers of worship who were not recognised as contributors before 1999.

Moreover, the many obstacles to the opening of new places of worship, the difficulties for the arrival and residence of evangelical missionaries, and the discrimination and violation of rights in funeral homes, cemeteries and evangelical marriage celebrations continue to be a concern.

Other difficulties that continue to be experienced, , according to FEREDE, are the possibility of receiving evangelical religious assistance or education, the right to educate children in accordance with the religious and moral convictions of their parents, sometimesin violation of their parental authority, as well as the right to religious freedom.

You can read the full report here (in Spanish)

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[title]One more year[/title]

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[text]At Evangelical Focus, we have a sustainability challenge ahead. We invite you to join those across Europe and beyond who are committed with our mission. Together, we will ensure the continuity of Evangelical Focus and Protestante Digital (Spanish) in 2025.

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