Through the years:

1930's: Second Spanish Republic

After coming into power in 1931, the new Republican government was strongly anti–clerical, prohibiting religious education in the schools, separating church and state, and even exiling the Jesuits from the country, who opposed the progressive reforms. But it didn’t stop there, the government expropriated all Church properties, forcing them to pay rent and taxes in order to maintain them; this included episcopal residents, seminaries, monasteries, religious clothing, and even paintings and statues.

During this period of time, the Church was particularly weak with the anti-clerical middle class and the urban working class; it remained active through the wealthy elite, the army, and the peasantry in rural Spain. It was the middle class Catholics in the rural towns, especially women, who kept the religion present, eventually establishing the “Women’s Catholic Action.” This group emphasized traditional values, stating that women should serve as mothers and caregivers, while fulfilling their principal obligation to protect the family and religious values.

Through this group, the Army began to see the support it had in overthrowing the Republican government.

1936-39: Spanish Civil War

The central issue on both sides was the role of the Catholic Church, which the Republican Government saw as the major enemy of modernity and the Spanish people, and the Nationalist Side (Francoists) saw as the invaluable protector of Spanish values. In the end, the conservative, army-backed forces prevailed, led by Generalissimo Francisco Franco.

However, a lot of damage was done to the Catholic Church by the Republican Government, in just the first year of the war. Thousands of churches were destroyed, and Catholic priests, nuns and conspicuous laymen came under violent attack by the Republican side. Of the 30,000 priests and monks in Spain in 1936, 6,800 were killed; 13 bishops and 283 nuns were killed. Half the killings took place during the first month and a half of the civil war. 

Francoist Dictatorship

When Franco came into power, the Roman Catholic Church swore loyalty to the authoritarian state, which lent legitimacy to the power; in turn, Franco– a devout Catholic– restored and enhanced the privileges and power the Church had.

The Francoist regime established policies that were highly favorable to the Catholic Church, including reestablishing its status as the official religion of Spain. In addition to receiving government subsidies to rebuild Churches, the Church regained its dominant position in the education system, and laws conformed to Catholic dogma.

During the Franco years, Roman Catholicism was the only religion to have legal status; other worship services could not be advertised, and only the Catholic Church could own property or publish books. The government paid the priests' salaries, continues to subsidized the church, and assisted in the reconstruction of church buildings damaged by the war. Laws were passed abolishing divorce and banning the sale of contraceptives, and even decelerating Catholic lessons mandatory in schools.