Spanish Catholic Church "taking €6 billion from the public purse each year" say secularists

A Finance Concordat between Spain and the Catholic Church obliges the Church to pay its own way within three years of the introduction of a "church tax" which was finally introduced at the end of 1987. Yet even after being given more than 10 years' warning, the Church didn't meet the deadline. Then in 2007 the Government even increased the "church tax" from 0.52% to 0.70%. Yet none of the attempts to wean the Spanish Church from public funds have worked: more than 20 years on, it is still demanding huge annual sums from the taxpayers. This shocking report from Europa Laica is an attempt to estimate the size of the subsidy. The figures involved are mind-boggling.
See also: Despite Church protests, Spain presses on with abortion liberalisation