I came across a student exchange website where they map out pretty much anything a student will need to know when traveling abroad. In this case, they're covering religion. Most of the following information will be coming from there. Here is the direct link:
http://www.spainexchange.com/travel_spain/section-7.htm
They acknowledge that the primary religion is Roman Catholicism, nearly 97% according to the site. Interestingly, the reason the percentage is so overwhelmingly large is because in the 1400s, the king and queen demanded that everyone be Roman Catholic, and if you weren't you had one of two options: a) switch your religion and become a practicing Roman Catholic or b) you would be killed or exiled from Spain. Nowadays, other religions are permitted to practice freely, which brings me to my next point.
Nearly 300,00 muslims live and practice their religion in Spain. These group of Muslims were known as the Moors who came over from North Africa very early on and ruled Spain for years. Spain is also approximately made up of 12,000 practicing Jews.
In reading this, I also discovered more about Catholicism in Spain. Apparently, there are several cities (Santiago de Compostela** and Romeria del Rocio) which I am assuming are considered holy, because people used to migrate to them every year. The journey is an extremely religious one, in which they acknowledge the saints they believe by wearing seashells and other things, based on the story of how the saints came about. It doesn't say if this is still tradition or not, but I had no idea Christian/Catholics did that at all, so I found that rather fascinating.
While in Spain, and noted in many sources online, when you enter any churches, cathedrals, or sanctuaries, it is required that you are to dress nicely. Even if you are just a tourist, if you are not wearing acceptable clothing you will not be admitted. In an article by justlanded.com (From a book called Living and Working in Spain), they note this.
One of the big religious holidays that I was actually lucky enough to experience first-hand in Spain is Easter. Easter is one of the largest public celebrations in Spain. I was overwhelmed with the turnout and attention that everyone gave to the parades, and how participative everyone was. During 'Holy Week,' all of the cities take part in several celebrations, often daily. They include anything from parading through the street to theatrical reenactments. Holy Week consists of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Lent, and Ash Wednesday. Lent is a period of fasting and sacrifice for 40 days. It is practiced by the Catholics and is a very usual tradition in Spain.
Here's a short YouTube video that gives you an idea of what the Easter celebrations may look like in Spain:
Also, below are two photos I took during the Easter procession while I was in Spain:
Christmas is another large ordeal for the Spaniards. I've found that Spain is historically extremely religious. Catholicism is rooted deep within their culture. During the few days surrounding Christmas, families eat plenty of meals together. Whychristmas.com described several traditions that the Spanish take part in for Christmas time and also New Year's. The following are the few I chose to be the most popular and most similar to what we celebrate in America.
1. Christmas Eve service is followed by parading through the street with torches and people playing instruments and singing Christmas songs.
2. Seafood is one of the most popular dishes for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
3. December 28th is similar to America's April Fool's Day. This is to reflect on the history of King Herod ordering many babies to be killed, in an attempt to kill Baby Jesus. They call this day in Spain "Dia de los santos inocentes."
4. The New Year is brought in with eating 12 grapes, one for each strike of the clock at midnight. They believe that with each grape you eat, it will bring you luck for each month in the coming new year.
Justlanded.com link:
http://www.justlanded.com/english/Spain/Articles/Culture/Religion-in-Spain
Whychristmas.com link:
http://whychristmas.com/cultures/spain.shtml
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