page_title: Freemasonry in Spain
section_title: Contemporary Spanish Freemasonry
hierarchical_section_title: Freemasonry in Spain / Contemporary Spanish Freemasonry
caption_attribution_description: Español: Sello del Gran Priorato de Hispania y del Gran Priorato Rectificado de Hispania de las I y IV provincias, correspondientes a Aragón y León respectivamente
context_page_description: Freemasonry in Spain is first recorded in 1728, in an English lodge. As various papal bulls condemned Freemasonry the Spanish Inquisition did their best to close lodges and demonise Freemasons, therefore the success of Freemasonry from year to year depended on the sympathy or antipathy of the ruling regime. Nevertheless, lodges and even Grand Lodges were formed, and even thrived during more liberal periods. When Francisco Franco consolidated power in 1939, all Freemasonry was banned. In 1979, four years after Franco's death, bans on Freemasonry were declared unconstitutional, and several Grand Lodges and Orients now flourish in Spain.
context_section_description: The current picture of Masonic organizations in Spain is that of a plurality of different interpretations of Masonic regularity, with the result that one may find there many different types of lodges: liberal, conservative, traditional, secular, deistic, esoteric, regional, national, international, as well as male, female and mixed.
  In 1979 the Spanish Federation of Le Droit Humain continued the work interrupted in 1938 but continued in exile. Le Droit Humain is the first and oldest mixed Masonic Order and now spans over fifty countries. The Symbolic Grand Lodge of Spain (founded in 1980) also has mixed lodges and is part of the CLIPSAS alliance.  The male only Grand Lodge of Spain was founded 1982, and has the recognition of United Grand Lodge of England (as well as most Grand Lodges in the United States) and has the highest number of lodges in contemporary Spain.
  There is also the Feminine Grand Orient of Spain and the Feminine Grand Lodge of Spain, with other regional implementations of women's Masonry, such as the Grand Lodge of the Canary Islands, the Grand Lodge of Catalonia and the Grand Orient of Catalonia. In 2003 the Hispanic Grand Priory was founded, an obedience open only to Christians, and practicing the Rectified Scottish Rite.
  International Masonic organizations such as the Grand Orient of France have a presence in Spain. There are also  Masonic Lodges of other organizations such as the Grand Lodge of France or the Traditional and Symbolic Grand Lodge among others.
  Similarly, in 2001, the Grand Orient of Iberia, a liberal obedience which, like the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Spain, welcomes male, female and mixed lodges and works mostly in the French Rite both in the Iberian peninsula and in Mexico and France. In 2010 it had thirteen lodges, with one in Mexico City and two in Paris.
  In 2007, the Iberian United Grand Lodge, an obedience which observed traditional regularity but not recognised by the United Grand Lodge of England emerged.
  In 2011 the Grand Lodge of Spain (the largest Masonic group in Spain, whose members comprise 3,000 of the 3,600 Masons estimated to live in the country, most of them Spanish, with some British and French) published the first Masonic Barometer, a snapshot of who they are and what they care about as members of this group. According to the abstract published by the daily El Pais, "the result is that they are believers (32% declare themselves Christian, without pointing specifically to any denomination, another 11.6% Roman Catholic), with strong, but varied political convictions (28% declare themselves liberal, 16.3% social democratic, 15.6% conservative), and consider the biggest problem facing Spain at the moment is "the crisis of values." So apart from Christians and Catholics, there are also, to a much lesser extent (less than 5% each), Protestants, Anglicans, Jews and Buddhists. But undoubtedly the largest category comprises those who declare themselves simply "spiritual without affiliation to any religion" (35%). The Barometer explains that there are no atheist Masons (compared to 8.8% of the general public) citing the essence of Freemasonry, which has its essential foundation in the Faith in a Higher Power
caption: Seal of the Ist and IVth Provinces of the Knights Beneficent of the Holy City, corresponding to the old crowns of Aragon and Castile
exif: {}