Spanish society is again fracturing into the divisions that marked some of the worst periods of its history, the country’s Roman Catholic bishops have warned.
“Confrontations are growing and it seems as if we are seeing an artificial resurgence of ‘the two Spains’,” the association of bishops said in a 95-page document setting out the challenges facing the Spanish church and its strategy for the next four years.
The document does not mention the 1936-39 civil war but the phrase “the two Spains” is often used to invoke the conflict in which the right-wing forces of Franco seized power from the left-wing troops defending the elected Republican government.
The phrase originated with the poet Antonio Machado, who wrote in 1912: “May God take mercy on you/ One of the two Spains will freeze your heart.”
Spanish society is in difficulties not only because of the coronavirus but also through “a deep institutional crisis”, the bishops say. They blame some political groups for wanting to abolish the democratic system introduced by the constitution of 1978, three years after Franco’s death.
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“It’s not about venerating the 1978 system but we should assert that this constitutional framework has restored a great stability to Spain that wasn’t the case for centuries,” the report says.
Unidas Podemos, Spain’s far-left party and the smaller coalition partner in the Socialist-led government, and separatist parties in the northeastern region of Catalonia often attack Spain’s democratic institutions, even though they rank well in indicators on the quality of democracies. Some left-wing parties talk of the “1978 regime” and point to scandals in the royal family to argue for a republic.
Spain’s bishops are generally conservative and have attacked socialist governments for liberalising abortion, legalising gay marriage and supporting euthanasia and assisted dying. However, the association recently backed the Socialist-led government’s pardons for Catalan separatists who were convicted over their attempt to secede from the rest of Spain in 2017.
The bishops also acknowledged that the church is being questioned because of sexual abuses, but said this was part of a plan to destroy Christianity.
In a recent state poll, 61 per cent of Spaniards described themselves as religious, but only 14.5 per cent said they attended Mass most Sundays and on public holidays.
