“On Sunday this cathedral is something like a circus”: religion in Spain during the Second Republic as seen by American visitors

Catholicism has constituted one of the essential pillars shaping Spain’s cultural identity since the Early Modern period. However, the weight of religion in Spanish society has not always been understood uniformly, either at the national level or from an international perspective. This paper focuses on one of the most significant turning points in this regard: the 1930s. It examines a selection of texts written by foreign visitors to Spain during this period who documented the religious landscape they encountered. By comparing these accounts both with one another and with locally produced sources, the article seeks to assess how these observers grasped the complexity of religious life in Spain and the secularizing changes then underway, while also identifying the factors that shaped their experiences and perceptions.