How does Spain's culture affect its people and religion?
Spain's system of values includes most of the people celebrating religious holidays. Religion is important to almost half of Spain's people. More than ninety percent of the population is Roman Catholic. When Spain's government was a dictatorship under General Franco people were not allowed to practice the religion they wanted. When King Carlos made the government democratic in 1978 a parliament was elected and people were able to practice whatever religion they wanted. Even though most people are Catholic, they are free to practice any religion.
The majority religion is Catholicism. The most celebrated week is Holy Week which is celebrated all over Spain at the end of March or during April. It is held from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. The Spanish have many festivals to celebrate this week when Christ died on the cross. They have parades with floats and wooden figures to represent the saints. Most people join in the celebrations with singing, dancing, and even being part of the Pampolona or bull fighting. Most of the festivals have religious meaning. The Catholic faith is so important to the people of Spain that most of the national holidays are religious.
The Catholic belief system affects how Spain interacts with other countries because it allowed them since the 1980's to reconnect with the rest of the world. Spain's king made the government more democratic and offers religious freedom to everyone. The Spanish people interact well with people from other countries. They are friendly with their neighbors to the east in Portugal and also with their neighbors to the northeast in France.
