Though infrequently used, Spain maintains what amounts to a law against blasphemy.
Article 525 of the Spanish Penal Code forbids the defamation of any individual’s or
group’s religious sentiments, beliefs, or practices. Due to the Spanish population being
strongly Catholic by tradition, this anti-blasphemy measure, when used, tends to defend
Catholic sentiments, but it is likely that non-Catholics could utilize it as well if it were
enforced at all regularly. One of the only recent cases of the blasphemy law occurred in
2012, when a famous Spanish artist named Javier Krahe was prosecuted—and eventually acquitted—for blasphemy after a documentary showed him allegedly cooking a crucifix in footage shot 34 years earlier.
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