It has produced the world-conquering Jesuits, the mysteriously
powerful Opus Dei and, of course, the Spanish inquisition.
But is Spain a nation of ardent, rosary-clutching Roman Catholics?
On one level it is.
Three-quarters of Spaniards define themselves as Catholics, with only one in 40 who follow some other religion.
Movements such as Opus Dei and the Neocatechumenal Way (whose followers are known in Spain as kikos after founder Kiko Argüello) are popular.
Yet
the country's seminaries, monasteries and nunneries are half-empty (or,
in some cases, closed).
And only 15% of Spanish Catholics attend mass
every week. More than 60% rarely step foot inside a church.
The Vatican,
meanwhile, has lost the battle on attitudes to sex and contraception.
That
has not stopped the church, which runs an extensive network of schools,
from getting involved in politics.
A radio station it part-owns, the
Cope, is a ferocious critic of the socialist government and the faithful
have been called out to protest against laws on divorce, abortion and
gay marriage.
The Spanish Inquisition formally wound up its work
in 1834.
As for Opus Dei, two ministers in the conservative People's
party governments between 1996 and 2004 were reportedly members.
There
are none reported in the current socialist government, unlike Tony
Blair's Labour cabinet – where Ruth Kelly admitted receiving "spiritual support" from Opus Dei.