Implementing spiritual care at the end of life in Spain

Abstract

In recent decades, Spain, traditionally a Catholic country, has gone through a sharp secularisation process. The latest figures show that approximately 70% of the adult population declare themselves to be Catholic – but among them, only 14% are regular churchgoers. Around 25% of adults define themselves as atheists or non-believers. Nearly 3% declare themselves to be of other denominations, most of them being Muslims, Protestants, Jews and Buddhists.1 In parallel with the secularisation of Spanish society, new forms of worship, partly arising through the immigration of recent years, have contributed to a growing interest in spirituality conceived outside the framework of Catholicism.