{"id":20075,"date":"2017-05-19T04:04:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T04:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times-24462\/"},"modified":"2017-05-19T04:04:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T04:04:00","slug":"spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/First_Communion_Credit_Shutterstockphoto3_via_wwwshutterstockcom_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis.<\/p>\n<p>It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work.<\/p>\n<p>Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began.<\/p>\n<p>But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent episode, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketplace.org\/2017\/05\/17\/economy\/despite-spains-economic-woes-families-go-out-first-communion-parties\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">economic podcast Marketplace explored<\/a> the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters' First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country.<\/p>\n<p>According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party.<\/p>\n<p>Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to \u201chave the communion that God demands,\u201d Francesc Nu\u00f1ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular \u201cproxy\u201d for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic.<\/p>\n<p>May is \u201cFirst Communion season\u201d for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time.<\/p>\n<p>Infanta Sof\u00eda of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation's throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci\u00f3n de Nuestra Se\u00f1ora parish in Madrid.<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=8KgijZmoM4o:ZkCckC6MyBk:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/8KgijZmoM4o\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/First_Communion_Credit_Shutterstockphoto3_via_wwwshutterstockcom_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis.<\/p>\n<p>It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work.<\/p>\n<p>Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began.<\/p>\n<p>But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent episode, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketplace.org\/2017\/05\/17\/economy\/despite-spains-economic-woes-families-go-out-first-communion-parties\">economic podcast Marketplace explored<\/a> the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters&#8217; First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country.<\/p>\n<p>According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party.<\/p>\n<p>Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to &ldquo;have the communion that God demands,&rdquo; Francesc Nu&ntilde;ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular &ldquo;proxy&rdquo; for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic.<\/p>\n<p>May is &ldquo;First Communion season&rdquo; for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time.<\/p>\n<p>Infanta Sof&iacute;a of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation&#8217;s throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci&oacute;n de Nuestra Se&ntilde;ora parish in Madrid.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=8KgijZmoM4o:ZkCckC6MyBk:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/8KgijZmoM4o\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis. It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work. Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis. Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began. But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties. In a recent episode, economic podcast Marketplace explored the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters&#039; First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country. According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party. Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to &ldquo;have the communion that God demands,&rdquo; Francesc Nu&ntilde;ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace. It&rsquo;s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular &ldquo;proxy&rdquo; for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic. May is &ldquo;First Communion season&rdquo; for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time. Infanta Sof&iacute;a of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation&#039;s throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci&oacute;n de Nuestra Se&ntilde;ora parish in Madrid.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis. It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work. Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis. Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began. But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties. In a recent episode, economic podcast Marketplace explored the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters&#039; First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country. According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party. Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to &ldquo;have the communion that God demands,&rdquo; Francesc Nu&ntilde;ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace. It&rsquo;s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular &ldquo;proxy&rdquo; for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic. May is &ldquo;First Communion season&rdquo; for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time. Infanta Sof&iacute;a of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation&#039;s throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci&oacute;n de Nuestra Se&ntilde;ora parish in Madrid.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-19T04:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/First_Communion_Credit_Shutterstockphoto3_via_wwwshutterstockcom_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/\",\"name\":\"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-19T04:04:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-19T04:04:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis. It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work. Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis. Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began. But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties. In a recent episode, economic podcast Marketplace explored the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters' First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country. According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party. Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to &ldquo;have the communion that God demands,&rdquo; Francesc Nu&ntilde;ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace. It&rsquo;s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular &ldquo;proxy&rdquo; for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic. May is &ldquo;First Communion season&rdquo; for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time. Infanta Sof&iacute;a of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation's throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci&oacute;n de Nuestra Se&ntilde;ora parish in Madrid.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times","description":"Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis. It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work. Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis. Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began. But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties. In a recent episode, economic podcast Marketplace explored the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters' First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country. According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party. Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to &ldquo;have the communion that God demands,&rdquo; Francesc Nu&ntilde;ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace. It&rsquo;s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular &ldquo;proxy&rdquo; for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic. May is &ldquo;First Communion season&rdquo; for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time. Infanta Sof&iacute;a of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation's throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci&oacute;n de Nuestra Se&ntilde;ora parish in Madrid.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times","og_description":"Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis. It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work. Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis. Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began. But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties. In a recent episode, economic podcast Marketplace explored the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters' First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country. According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party. Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to &ldquo;have the communion that God demands,&rdquo; Francesc Nu&ntilde;ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace. It&rsquo;s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular &ldquo;proxy&rdquo; for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic. May is &ldquo;First Communion season&rdquo; for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time. Infanta Sof&iacute;a of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation's throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci&oacute;n de Nuestra Se&ntilde;ora parish in Madrid.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-05-19T04:04:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/First_Communion_Credit_Shutterstockphoto3_via_wwwshutterstockcom_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/","name":"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-05-19T04:04:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-05-19T04:04:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2017 \/ 10:04 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Over the past nine years, Spain has been hit particularly hard by the worldwide economic crisis. It was in recession from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013, and unemployment in the country is at about 19 percent, with unemployment rates twice as high for people under the age of 25, forcing younger generations to leave the country to find work. Unfinished apartment complexes and houses stand out in the sun, sustaining years of wear and tear, a reminder of the burst property bubble at the center of the crisis. Spaniards are cutting back on expenses everywhere, including opting for smaller, civil wedding ceremonies and celebrations rather than large church weddings, which are down 50 percent since the crisis began. But there is one thing for which Spaniards are still willing to splurge: First Communion parties. In a recent episode, economic podcast Marketplace explored the phenomenon of the lavish parties celebrating youngsters' First Holy Communions, which have not declined in extravagance despite the hard times in the majority-Catholic country. According to a 2014 study reported on by Marketplace, First Communion parties are a multimillion dollar business, with families spending almost 600 million euros (or about $640 million dollars) on these celebrations that year. Many individual families end up spending several thousand dollars on a First Communion party. Parties include fancy, wedding-like dresses for girls, cake, food, photoshoots, and entertainment. Sometimes families will even borrow money or take out a loan in order to &ldquo;have the communion that God demands,&rdquo; Francesc Nu&ntilde;ez, sociologist at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, told Marketplace. It&rsquo;s a distinctly religious phenomenon too, he noted, as there is no secular &ldquo;proxy&rdquo; for a First Communion party, as there are for events like wedding ceremonies. Despite waning numbers of active churchgoers, approximately 70 percent of Spaniards still self-identify as Catholic. May is &ldquo;First Communion season&rdquo; for many countries in the Church, including Spain, where restaurant owners and other related businesses can expect an uptick in revenue around that time. Infanta Sof&iacute;a of Spain, 10, who is currently second in the line of succession to the nation's throne, received her first Communion this week at Asunci&oacute;n de Nuestra Se&ntilde;ora parish in Madrid.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/05\/spaniards-splurge-on-first-communion-parties-despite-economic-hard-times\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Spaniards splurge on First Communion parties despite economic hard times"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}