In 1936 for a brief moment in Spanish history, the reactionary grip and the real and mental Inquisition of the Catholic Church was broken in large areas of the country and the mystique of religion shattered by the cathartic violence of anticlerical militants.
As one aspect of the Social Revolution hundreds of churches were destroyed and priests killed, followed by at least 100,000 arbitrary executions in revenge, often with the aid of the church, by the conquering fascist rebels, backed by Hitler and Mussolini.

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The Catholic church regained power, property and riches, and the Spanish Inquisition returned, joining the Franco regime in persecuting gays, women, leftists and anyone suspected or denounced, even stealing and selling tens of thousands of ‘red’ babies and controlling every aspect of daily life.
When ”democracy” finally returned in the 70’s, 40 years later, it was only with an amnesty for all crimes and looting committed, with the church exonerated and exalted with tax free status, and the far right oligarchy retaining ultimate control.
Though the church is still in decline in Iberia today it retains huge wealth and influence in the legal, security and political institutions and a staggering and now exponentially growing portfolio of tax free property.
The Catholic Church has registered 3,722 properties in its name in Catalonia, without any title proving its ownership, as reported today by the Catalan Government.

By PostDigital, shared with thanks (see original in Spanish below)
These data appear in the set of property records for all of Catalonia, according to inscriptions made between 1946 and 2015, much of it in Lleida (58%).
These are the so-called ”inmatriculations” of rustic properties (41%) and buildings dedicated to worship (50%), such as temples, hermitages, cemeteries, chapels, ecclesiastical groups and sanctuaries. The rest of inscriptions are from buildings (9%) such as rectories, garages or palaces.
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A new law in 1998 made it simple for the Church to quietly claim the huge amount of property that was traditionally built and maintained by the public in common, with nobody listed as the owner. By 1998 the church business of selling babies had finally ended and a new way was found to update the practice of diverting vast sums of cash and power to the coffers of the dwindling institution.

‘During the Franco dictatorship and later with the Aznar government, the Catholic Church found in the act of registering the perfect instrument to increase its real estate assets based on cemeteries, flats, orchards, parishes and other types of properties that until then belonged to the people or to individuals. Until now, the Government has always refused to offer data on these ”registrations”… https://raizdiario.es/iglesia-catolica-inmuebles oct 17, 2019












