Pentecostal Public Engagement in Spain

Spain has sometimes been likened to a graveyard for missionaries, pastors and Evangelicalism more generally. Pentecostalism has enjoyed some success but growth, as well as social and political impact, remains elusive and unlike that witnessed in Spain’s former Latin American colonies. This chapter examines three waves of Pentecostal activity in Spain, together with the movement’s social and political engagement in that country, arguing that the nature of Spanish society and dominance of Roman Catholic elites in the public square has so far yielded a modest and somewhat implicit social and cultural impact by Spanish Pentecostals and Charismatics. Perhaps the greatest potential for more sustained Pentecostal/Charismatic evangelisation and social and political engagement is through the new citizen children of Pentecostal immigrants, largely from Latin America.