Espagne

• July 2020 : Religion, COVID and state secularism

The COVID-19 pandemic has left more than 63,000 dead behind according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. Like for other human tragedies, such as terrorist attacks, the Spanish state commemorated the lives of those gone in a public ceremony. The event, which took place on July 16, 2020, was the first of its kind. For the first time, the state organized a non-religious and a-confessional celebration, where representatives of various religious groups were invited alongside European and state authorities, political leaders, health professionals and families, to participate but not lead the celebration. The gesture was perceived as a change in the historical approach to such kind of events, where religion, and in particular the Catholic Church, has always had a prominent position. Laicist groups, such as Europa Laica, celebrated the change in the orientation of the event.