THE proportion of Spaniards who say they are Roman Catholic has fallen to 73 percent from around 80 percent eight years ago, according to a survey released this week by the CIS research centre.

About 25 percent of all Spaniards now claim to be atheists or without a religion, compared to 17 percent in 2002, the June survey of 2,500 adults found.



Only 13 percent of those questioned said they attended Mass each week compared to 20 percent eight years ago. And more than half of those surveyed, 56 percent, said they “practically never” attended Mass.The findings reflected not just the rapid pace of secularisation the country has undergone this century but also the Roman Catholic Church’s “loss of credibility”, said Spanish theologian Juan Jose Tamayo.The atheist community in Spain will gain one more member when I relocate to that country in October – and just to ensure that no-one ever mistakes me for a believer, I designed me an atheist tattoo.The idea occurred to me after a discussion with a fellow atheist in Scotland, who was lamenting the fact that non-believers can’t seem to agree on an easily recognisable , universal symbol.Certainly, when I Googled “what is the best atheist symbol?” I found on discussion boards a number of suggested signs, some pretty complex – and not at all obvious, like this one. In the end,Â using a simple “A” with the word atheist in Spanish beneath I came up with my own design, and had it inked on my right pectoral earlier this month.I have to say I was miffed over the fact that my Collins Easy Learn Spanish Dictionary does not contain the word atheist, but did have “Christian”.Hope they correct this glaring omission in future editions.By the way, it’s always wise when having a tattoo to make sure that the person applying it knows how to spell, or you could wind up looking like the lad on the left.