Spain is an ancient country, a nation of courageous people. What other nation in history has successfully driven out an invader—in this case, the Muslims—after 800 years of occupation? Iberia is also to be honored for bringing civilization and the Faith to the New World. As a result, the entire Western world has flourished for centuries.
The 20th century, however, was a turbulent one for Spain. In the 1930s the country fought a fierce battle to avoid becoming another communist territory. In the end communism was defeated, but Spain paid a high price, a very painful civil war. After the war ended, General Franco’s authoritarian government kept Spain out of World War II and concentrated on restoring order, which he did as successfully as the chaotic situation permitted.
For its part, communism never forgave Spain for its defeat. For decades, it had crouched like a wolf waiting to pounce on its prey. The communists waited patiently, laying low and preparing for the moment to strike. Franco died in 1975, leaving the country with a strong middle class, a limited monarchy, and a parliamentary government. In 1978, under the new government, the wolf of communism saw its opportunity and patiently began to prey on its victim.
Subscribe to keep updated on the latest Weekly Briefings!
The left’s first goal was educational “reform,” which meant installing teachers and professors who included many outright Marxists as well as sentimental leftists. Slowly using their positions to gain ground among the intellectual elites, these indoctrinators eventually became masters of the political narrative. That meant manufacturing a revisionist, secular version of history that condemned the Catholic, anti-Communist Franco while forgiving or simply ignoring the manifest crimes of the left.
In the meantime, Spain’s conservatives focused their energies on building a strong economy, while the left worked on invading the culture. That invasion was hardly subtle. Ships from Communist Bulgaria unloaded massive cargos of pornography in Barcelona, filling a void in the market of perversity, since such materials had been illegal for forty years. In July 1976, the same month that the post-Franco government first took office, Intervieú, Spain’s largest-circulation magazine—as prominent as Time or Newsweek in the States—portrayed on its cover “Marisol, Desnuda” —Marisol, Spain’s most popular young actress, akin to America’s Judy Garland—appearing totally nude and featured in newsstands on every street corner in the country.
Like a lot of conservatives in the United States, Spain learned too late that “it’s the culture, stupid!” With the passage of time, younger generations had acquired a mentality more similar to that of the Venezuelan Revolution than to that of the free world. In the end, it was the votes of those younger generations that left conservatives out of power in Spain.
With young imaginations filled with cultural Marxism and the alluring promises of the welfare state, the Left’s attacks on the culture of life fell on receptive ears. In 1985, Spain adopted a law that allowed abortion in three cases: risk to the mother’s health, malformations of the unborn child, and rape. Soon abortion became widespread, since “health of the mother” was acknowledged in cases of severe headaches. Before long, obtaining a permit to have an abortion could be acquired with ease. Alas, the law of cause and effect took its toll. Today, official figures for abortions in Spain report some 100,000 unborn children murdered every year.
Bearing in mind that the same number of children are born in Spain now as in the eighteenth century, and that the country’s birth rate is today one of the lowest in the world, isn’t it sheer madness to advocate killing new Spaniards who would love to find a home in this society?
Yes, the demographic winter in Spain is a reality and abortion only aggravates it. Each passing year finds fewer children with Down Syndrome being born. In fact, a judge recently required the State to pay a couple because a government doctor did not warn them during pregnancy that the child had Down’s Syndrome. The judge ruled that the doctor “had taken away” from the parents the opportunity to kill the child before it was born.
There’s no way around it: in many parts of Spain the value of human life is under siege.
In 2010, an even more aggressive abortion reform law passed. This law removed the minimal requirement for the mother to claim some risk or discomfort. Today, any mother who wants to can simply abort her child—at taxpayer expense! The law permits abortion of any child who has not reached fourteen weeks gestation, but it allows a doctor to authorize abortions with more advanced pregnancies as well. And, although it’s hard to believe, Spain’s current communist government wants to make it legal to allow abortion for any reason during all nine months of pregnancy.
Unfortunately, the radicalization of education has not been limited to the issue of abortion. Like abortion “rights,” gender ideology is based on a rejection of Humanae Vitae’s affirmation of Natural Law as well as divine law. In recent years, this ideology has thoroughly perverted the field of sex education. In 2005, Spain authorized so-called “same-sex marriage,” including the possibility of adoption of children by same-sex couples.
With increasing frequency, the law and subsequent education programs have encouraged children to doubt their identity. Parents who want to help the children are denied that right, although the law permits parents willing to do so to encourage their children’s confusion.
Nowadays Spain’s education programs are rife with the aroma of Marxist rebellion and feminist contempt for the family—and they’re getting more aggressive every day.
The most recent attack on life occurred a few weeks ago with the adoption of a law that creates a so-called “right” to euthanasia. In practical terms, the law confuses the desirable concept of “dying with dignity” with “assisted suicide.” The law facilitates the use of drugs to bring about the death of the patient who requests it, but does not promote palliative care. Once again, life is not valued in its totality.
As these attacks on the value of life advance, Spain’s predominance in the Spanish-speaking world is spreading the damage abroad. Spain has often been called a country between two continents. Yes, it is located in Europe, but it is also the country of reference for Latin Americans. In fact, Spanish representatives participate in many of the regional meetings held in Latin America. Yes, Spain once brought the Faith to the New Word, but today Spain’s attacks on life are being exported to Latin America. Most recently this influence has increased markedly, and many Latin American countries are now considering euthanasia legislation. In Colombia the first attempt has been defeated, but in Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Peru, among others, the efforts are moving forward.
But it’s not all bad news from Spain. In this beautiful country there is a group of energetic families who have confronted this deadly offensive.
The situation is dire indeed, but the vitality of these groups gives us hope. For example, HazteOír—with its international counterpart, CitizenGo—have conducted awareness campaigns to combat the anti-life ideology that has a transcendental dimension as well. Thanks to them many people have come to realize that what is happening in Spain is far from normal.
The movement includes the Family Forum, the Mothers Network, the Godmother Foundation, the Federation of Pro-Life Associations, the Family Policy Institute, and many others. On the legal level, the Christian Lawyers Association has achieved great success in its legal opposition to the excesses of anti-life and anti-religion politicians.
Most recently, the Assembly for Life, Liberty and Dignity has been born, determined to do battle and uniting the efforts of like-minded institutions. Many of these institutions have asked the Population Research Institute for help in developing their strategies. They employ our educational programs request our collaboration in the analysis of the cultural and political situation.
These efforts inspire great hope that, while Spain is confronted by great evils, this wonderful country also boasts great heroes and activists who together will build the culture of life and freedom.
