Spanish views from a small town

We're told to keep our chin up, that we can get through this together, and not to listen to the doubters and the doomsayers. So, who's sowing the doubts and distrust? I don't know, but I do know to check out whatever comes through chats and Facebook. My husband received a video the other day. It described a man going into the Facebook page of the Ministry of Health and going to a posted video with over forty thousand likes. He then "checks" to see who has liked or reacted to the page, and on the screen one can see just about the entire page with laughing faces. The man points out that all the names are foreign. He goes on to say that the Ministry is creating false profiles to fill their posts with reactions. Fake news. While watching the video, I went to the same page through my Facebook, and found the post. The reaction page, when I opened it, didn't have laughing faces. Rather, it had angry faces and all the names were Spanish. When I clicked on a profil...

Spain, home of the Inquisition and the Catholic Monarchs. Home of the black-clad women walking to Mass every Sunday, their heads covered with pious black mantillas. Country where every major ceremony came punctuated with a priest sprinkling his blessing on the encounter. Country where just about everyone was baptized into the Catholic Church at birth, and where the yearly celebration was not a person's birthday, but the day of the saint he was named after. Spain, one of the first European countries to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption. Country with (finally) one of the most liberal abortion laws (up to twelve weeks, no reason asked). Country with a continuous downturn in practicing Catholics. Country where most openly criticize the Church many were still baptized into. What happened to make the most Catholic of countries one of the most agnostic? Even Portugal is more religious now.  I think this is a rebound effect from Francoist times. Franco was extremely Catholic. Eve...