The headquarters of the regional government of Madrid opened its doors on Tuesday 31 October to hold, for the second year in a row, an institutional event to commemorate the Protestant Reformation.

The event, presided by Miguel Ángel García Martín, Madrid's regional Minister Justice and Local Administration, was attended by several evangelical representatives, including the board of the Evangelical Council of Madrid (CEM), as well as pastors from different denominations.

Institutional event

It is an institutional event signed as one of the points of the agreements with the CEM; in this specific case to promote the presence and relevance of the evangelical community in Madrid, which includes the capital city and sourrounding municipalities.

Madrid is the only Spanish region to have taken this step.

The ceremony was also attended by regional parliamentarians of the Social Democrat party PSOE and hard-right party Vox, as well as Inés Mazarrasa (Director of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation) and Mercedes Murillo (Deputy Director General for Religious Affairs of Sapin's Ministry of Justice).

“Madrid is a region for coexistence where we promote the conditions that ensure the freedom and equality of people. We recognise that the richness of cultures and religions brings added value to society”, stressed García Martín.

There are over 250,000 evangelicals in the region, with more than 750 places of worship.

History and freedom

García Martín also emphasised the historical presence of Protestants in Madrid, citing some illustrious names such as Luis de Usoz y Río and 19th century British missionary George Borrow.

Furthermore, the philosopher Javier Álvarez gave an overview of what freedom of conscience meant in the light of the Word of God, referring to the message of Martin Luther.

Manuel Cerezo, executive secretary of the CEM, gave a historical review of what religious freedom has meant in Spain, and underlined the importance of an institutional recognition of Reformation Day.

Reformation Day worship service

In the afternoon, the public worship service of the Reformation Day took place at the evangelical Shalom church.

That event also had an institutional participation with Gustavo Eustache, deputy of the Assembly of Madrid for the Popular Party, and José Antonio Fúster, from Vox, who addressed the audience to join in the celebration and to thank the evangelical action in all spheres of society.

There was a musical time of worship and the United Evangelical Choir of Madrid performed songs. The message was given by Julio Díaz Piñeiro, rector of the Baptist Faculty of Theology UEBE in Madrid.

The CEM gave the medals it awards each year to outstanding individuals and entities to Mariano Blázquez, for his work as executive secretary of Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE) for more than three decades, and to the UEBE Faculty of Theology for its theological and educational work, having recently celebrated its centenary.