Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Nov 02: Spain
Spain
Kingdom of Spain
Europe
See Prayer Information
Geography
Area: 504,783 sq kmThe major part of the Iberian peninsula and Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. Also included are the Canary Islands off northwest Africa and the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the North African coast.
Population: 45,450,497 Annual Growth: 1.02%
Capital: Madrid
Urbanites: 77.4%
HDI Rank: 15 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 53 (11% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: Catalán, Galician and Basque are official languages in the respective autonomous regions. Castilian (Spanish) is the only official language for all the Spanish territory. Spanish is the first language of over 340 million people; the world’s third most widely used language Languages: 21 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Christian| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 35,055,968 | 77.13 | 0.1 |
| Evangelicals | 461,998 | 1.0 | 3.4 |
Challenges for Prayer
There is a considerable increase in missionaries and agencies since 1978, probably numbering over 1,000 today. But some areas remain largely unreached. Proliferation of agencies and lack of coordination are issues for concern. Pray for:a) Christian workers to be called to less-evangelized areas, such as Castilla Leon, parts of Andalucía, Extremadura, the northern provinces of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country.
b) Missionaries to be able to integrate fully into Spanish culture and life. Challenges adapting and integrating persist.
c) Latin Americans are present in great numbers. Careful and conservative estimates state that 48% (others suggest up to 80%) of all new churches are planted by Latinos – missionaries, tentmakers and economic migrants. This claim is contested by others, but there is no denying the massive missional impact of Latinos upon Spain.
Some larger missions are AoG, WEC, YWAM, CB, ECM, OM, TEAM, GEM, ABWE, OMS and WH.
The evangelistic challenges facing Spain are enormous, including:
a) Unreached cities. There is no evangelical church in 345 cities and towns of over 5,000 people. Many smaller towns, villages and districts have no witness whatsoever. Of 8,112 municipalities, only around 650 have an evangelical church.
b) Of the 17 regions, Galicia and Asturias are less than 0.2% evangelical, and Extremadura and Navarre are less than 0.1%.
c) Of the 50 provinces, Soria and Avila have less than one evangelical for every 1,000 people, and 28 provinces have less than 1,000 members of evangelical churches.
d) While religious liberty exists on paper, difficulties and discrimination are still widespread for evangelicals, especially for obtaining licences to broadcast and to open new churches.
e) Evangelical congregations are small and dependent on foreign resources, with poor facilities in less than ideal locations. Pray for wisdom in knowing how to be more effective in outreach and balanced in testimony.
For an additional 11 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
