Spain

The Visigoths, a German tribe, established themselves in the Iberian peninsula in the 6th century. Muslim Arabs (Moors) settled in the south as of the 7th century. They were driven out by the Spanish monarchs in 1492. Spain was a major maritime, colonial and European power from the 15th through the 17th centuries. It lost all its colonies in the 19th century. From 1936-39 the Civil War made an end to the republic established in 1931, and General Franco imposed his fascist regime until his death in 1975. Since then, Spain has been a constitutional monarchy. It was a backward country until the 1960s, when it began to develop a modern economy and the society began to open up. Spain joined the European Union in 1986. The country has a decentralized administation that grants considerable autonomy to its regions, in recognition of cultural and linguistic diversity. Spain was Christianized as of the 2nd century and was a Catholic stronghold at the time of the Reformation. The Spanish Inquisition persecuted and killed thousands of Protestants, Jews, and Muslims. Under Franco, the Catholic Church was the state church, and other religious groups were discriminated, including the small Protestant and Episcopal churches which had come into being in the 19th century Besides these two, which have formed a Committee of Co-operation, new churches have emerged in the 20th century The largest is the Filadelfia Evangelical Church (Pentecostal), among the Roma. Others are the Brethren, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Assemblies of God, and other Pentecostal groups. There is a Spanish Evangelical Alliance, affiliated with the WEA.