Spain

The country has an area of 194,897 square miles and a population of 46.1 million.

>No formal government census exists based upon religious beliefs, as the Constitution provides that no individual is obligated to answer questions regarding their ideology. Sociological data is collected, but cannot be categorized as statistically sound. The Center for Sociological Investigation (CIS), an independent government agency, periodically collects survey data on religious trends. A January 2009 CIS survey reported that 77 percent of respondents considered themselves Catholic; however, 54.7 percent of those persons stated that they almost never attend Mass. Religious groups that constitute less than 10 percent of the population include all other Christian groups: Eastern Orthodox; Protestant and evangelical denominations, including Christian Scientists; Jehovah's Witnesses; Seventh-day Adventists; and Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Also, fewer than 10 percent of the population are followers of Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Baha'ism.

The Episcopal Conference of Spain estimates there are 35 million Catholics in the country. The Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities (FEREDE) estimates there are 1.2 million evangelical Christians and other Protestants, 800,000 of whom are immigrants or live in the country at least six months of the year. A September 2008 study of the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain estimates that there are more than 1.2 million Muslims in Spain, attending 13 large Islamic centers ("grand mosques") and 480 worship centers or oratories throughout the country. Other government authorities report as many as 800 Islamic oratories. The Federation of Jewish Communities estimates that there are 48,000 Jews and 22 places of worship.

The Observatorio Andalusí calculated that although there are converts to Islam, more than two-thirds of Muslims are immigrants without Spanish nationality. Most are recent immigrants from Morocco (680,000), but there are also Algerians (47,000), Pakistanis (37,000), Senegalese (31,000), and immigrants from other Arab or Islamic countries. As of January 2008, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs reported that Moroccans are the second largest legal immigrant population, after Romanians, numbering over 645,000. The largest concentrations of Muslims are in the regions of Catalonia (300,000), Andalucia (120,000), Madrid (80,000), Valencia, Murcia, and the Spanish North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) noted that a small number of Christians emigrated from countries such as Egypt and Lebanon. The country also has received a large influx of immigrants from Latin America, many of them Catholics. Most Orthodox Christians are from Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. Evangelical Protestant immigrants typically come from African and Latin American countries, according to government officials.

Entities may voluntarily register with the Ministry of Justice; religious freedoms are protected regardless of whether an entity is registered. As of April 20, 2009, the MOJ's Register of Religious Entities included 12,187 entities affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. There were 2,057 non-Catholic entities and 3,583 non-Catholic places of worship registered. These included 1,337 Protestant or evangelical church entities and 2,413 Protestant or evangelical places of worship; 13 Orthodox entities and 25 Orthodox places of worship; two Jehovah's Witnesses entities and 773 places of worship; one Mormon entity with 120 places of worship; one Unification Church; four Christian Scientist entities, 20 entities of Judaism with 22 places of worship; 563 Islamic entities with 160 places of worship; 11 entities of the Baha'i Faith with 12 places of worship; five entities of Hinduism; and 32 entities of Buddhism with 32 places of worship.

The number of non-Catholic churches and religious communities may be much larger than indicated. Some religious groups choose to register as cultural organizations with regional governments rather than with the National Registry of Religious Entities in Madrid.