church finances

   In Francoist times and in the early transition period, the principal source of church financing were state funds compensating for the expropriation of church property in the nineteenth century. A new threestage funding system was envisaged by the 1979 Partial Accords (which replaced the 1953 Concordat) but was not fully implemented. Since 1988 the church has largely been financed by an annual block grant from the state coffers and revenue deriving from 0.52 percent of personal income tax when so stipulated by tax-payers. Additionally there are direct contributions, some of which can be offset against income tax. Poorer dioceses are helped by the richer via an Inter- Diocesan Common Fund. National and regional government subsidies are given for the upkeep of some church property deemed part of the national heritage. Although it is the stated aim of the church to be self-financing, dependence on the state is likely to continue in the foreseeable future.

   See also: church and state

   Further reading

   - Hooper, J. (1995) The New Spaniards, Harmondsworth: Penguin (see chapter 9 for a useful account of church-state relations, including financial arrangements).

   AUDREY BRASSLOFF