Indirect path to power: the far-right catholic agenda in Spain

Abstract

Between 2005 and 2009, Spain provided the first European setting for Catholic mobilization against same-sex marriage, sex education, and voluntary interruption of pregnancy. These three social achievements were considered expressions of what some Christians name gender ideology. These anti-gender campaigns failed in their main objectives at this time: in 2022, both abortion and same-sex marriage are legal. However, the anti-gender rhetoric has reached the public sphere and is part of public debates in Spain today. In this chapter, we explore the successes and failures of Catholic conservative strategies around gender in Spain in the last two decades by analyzing (1) the evolution of the religious context, (2) the internationalization and professionalization of lay activism, and (3) recent transformations in the right-wing electoral landscape. These three factors inform the political opportunity framework in which religious, civil, and political actors create coalitions in their attempts to transfer Catholic doctrines into public policies.