Praying in the Streets: Re-Traditionalisation of Public Spaces in Contemporary Spain

Abstract

This paper contributes to the scant ethnographic literature dedicated to understanding the phenomenon of re-sacralisation. The article appraises lay Catholics’ lived experiences of everyday religion, charting the demographic dynamics and social and spiritual demands of those who are revitalising public expressions of Catholicism on the ground. Through theoretical frameworks that foreground memory, identity and gender, the fate and work of lay Catholic organisations is explored vis-à-vis priestly notions of faith. The current return and reinvention of Catholic traditions in Spain is explored through ethnographic study, seeking the reasons for the return and reinvention of Catholic festive traditions and asking what this phenomenon means when the faithful devise their own modes of devotion and faith-based identity away from priestly demands.