Spain’s coalition government led by the PSOE socialist party with the Sumar left-wing group has said it will be proposing legislation to stop religious groups seeking to prosecute people for blasphemy, amid a debate about how to balance freedom of speech against religious rights.
Patxi López, the PSOE’s parliamentary spokesperson, said on Friday that the bill would repeal a law that imposes fines on people who mock religious beliefs.
He said the law ‘rarely achieves convictions and yet it is constantly used by extremist and fundamentalist organisations to persecute artists, activists (and) elected representatives, subjecting them to costly criminal proceedings’.
About a third of European countries still had blasphemy laws in 2019, according to the Pew Research Centre.
The proposed bill in Spain follows a lawsuit brought by the Catholic association ‘Hazte Oír’ and ‘Abogados Cristianos’ (Christian Lawyers) against comedian Laura Yustres (also known as Lalachus) after she, in a state television appearance during New Year’s Eve celebrations, brandished an image of Jesus on which the head of the cow mascot for a popular TV programme had been superimposed (see main image).
Hazte Oír and the Abogados Cristianos announced on 1 January that they were going to sue Lalachus, her co-presenter David Broncano, the Spanish state broadcaster RTVE and its president José Pablo López for ‘a possible hate crime and against religious feelings’. On 2 January, the Spanish Episcopal Conference said that it was joining the case.
The far-right Vox party said it would demand a debate on the matter in the Spanish Congress, and has requested the attendance of the RTVE chairman to explain the controversy.
In response, Spain’s Justice Minister, Félix Bolaños, said that ‘freedom of expression and creation must be a fundamental pillar in a democratic society’. In addition, the minister announced that the government would seek to reform the crime of religious offences this year, framing it in their ‘Action Plan for Democracy’, an initiative that seeks to protect fundamental rights such as artistic freedom.
‘Behind these hate campaigns are ultra-right interests that seek to undermine democracy, weaken the welfare state and intimidate those who think differently,’ Bolaños wrote on X (Twitter). ‘The reform of the crime of religious offences will guarantee the protection of freedom of expression and creation.’
Previous prosecutions in Spain have sought to punish a woman who paraded through the streets with a giant vagina maquette and a politician who stripped down to her bra to protest against the presence of a chapel in a public university. ALSO READ: Willy Toledo released after being detained for blasphemy.
Most blasphemy cases in Spain are thrown out, although in 2018 a man was sentenced to six months in prison for interrupting a mass by shouting slogans supporting abortion.
López said the bill would also prohibit lawsuits based exclusively on evidence from news clippings and ban political parties or associated groups from launching or joining lawsuits.
The right-wing People’s Party (PP) opposition said this was an attempt to prevent private prosecutions that have ensnared socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his family in the past year.
Sánchez threatened to step down after his wife Begoña Gómez was accused by anti-graft campaigners Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) in a lawsuit of using her profile to influence her business dealings. The group, which has presented a litany of unsuccessful lawsuits against politicians in the past, had said its complaint was based on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity. Gómez has denied the accusations. ALSO READ: Begoña Gómez, wife of Spanish PM, denies wrongdoing in graft investigation hearing.
Hazte Oír y Abogados Cristianos anuncian que demandarán a Lalachus, Broncano y RTVE por la ‘estampita’ del ‘Grand Prix’ https://t.co/IF60zR8rZ8 pic.twitter.com/jwNpmiKGuL
— elDiario.es (@eldiarioes) January 2, 2025
Detrás de estas campañas de odio hay intereses ultras para socavar la democracia, debilitar el Estado del bienestar y amedrentar a quienes piensan distinto.
La reforma del delito de ofensas religiosas garantizará la protección de la libertad de expresión y creación. pic.twitter.com/dOBdb9NMcF
— Félix Bolaños (@felixbolanosg) January 7, 2025
Seguiremos protegiendo a todo aquel que quiera practicar una religión y que no sea discriminado por ello
Lo que queremos eliminar del Código Penal es la tipificación de las ofensas religiosas que se utiliza especialmente para perseguir a artistas o a creadores.
Por lo tanto, es… pic.twitter.com/YfCXh5FyCv
— patxilopez (@patxilopez) January 10, 2025
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