The association Europa Laica has presented a list of demands to the Government following the criticisms from the president of the Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, who labelled the State as a "band of thieves". They are calling for the end of the IRPF checkbox, the payment of IBI, and the removal of the Religion subject from classrooms.
Europa Laica has issued an ultimatum to the Spanish Government: either progress towards a truly secular State or continue allowing the Catholic Church to maintain economic and fiscal privileges. The association, which advocates for the separation of Church and State, has detailed five specific measures that it considers urgent.
The trigger for this has been the recent statements from the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Luis Argüello, who described the State as a "band of thieves" and questioned the ethics of public institutions. For Europa Laica, it is "an exercise in cynicism" for someone who benefits from a "legalised tax haven" to accuse the State that supports it of being a thief.
End of the IRPF checkbox and payment of IBI
The first demand is the end of public funding through the IRPF checkbox. In 2024, this mechanism diverted a record amount of 429 million euros of direct public money to the Episcopal Conference. Europa Laica considers it unacceptable for the State to act as a private collector for the Church.
Additionally, they are demanding the elimination of IBI tax exemptions. The Catholic Church does not pay the Property Tax on most of its properties, which represents a "medieval privilege" that, according to the association, suffocates the local finances of municipalities. Europa Laica demands that it be taxed on all its rural and urban properties.
Registrations and indoctrination in classrooms
Another key point is the reversal of registrations. Europa Laica denounces that the Church has appropriated thousands of public domain assets, such as squares, temples, and land, through a process they describe as "institutionalised plunder". They demand that these assets be returned to the State's heritage.
In the educational sphere, the association calls for the suppression of religious indoctrination in classrooms and the end of educational agreements with confessional centres. They consider it a "democratic anomaly" that religion, which belongs to the private sphere, is included in the school curriculum and that the salaries of catechists appointed by bishops are paid with public money.
Repeal of the Agreements with the Holy See of 1979
The flagship measure is the repeal of the Agreements with the Holy See of 1979. Europa Laica describes them as a "legal lock" that perpetuates the privileged status of the Church in economic, fiscal, educational, and legal areas, violating the constitutional principle of the State's secularism.
The association concludes that it is not the State that acts against ethics, but the Catholic hierarchy, which places itself outside common fiscal obligations. "The Government's lamentations in the face of attacks from the Catholic hierarchy are of little use," they state, and demand "the firm and decisive application of a secular agenda".
For interested readers, these proposals would represent a radical change in Church-State relations in Spain. If implemented, taxpayers would stop allocating part of their IRPF to the Church, municipalities would receive more from IBI, and public education would gain ground over concerted education. The debate is on, and the ball is now in the Government's court.
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