The evangelical boom in Madrid: Packed stadiums, public transit advertising, and political connections

Religious battles are no longer fought only in churches. They’re also being waged on buses. For days now, advertisements for the Festival of Hope featuring American preacher Franklin Graham have been appearing on Madrid’s Municipal Transportation Company (EMT) buses. The posters, which cover the sides of the vehicles, include a direct invitation: “Share the love of Jesus Christ with people from all over Madrid.” The event, expected to draw a large crowd, will be held on May 30 and 31 at the Vistalegre Palace concert venue and, according to the website, will bring together evangelical churches from all over Spain around the son of the legendary televangelist Billy Graham.

In a video released by the Qatari news network Al Jazeera, Franklin Graham can be seen praying a few weeks ago at the White House alongside U.S. President Donald Trump. During the prayer, Graham made references to Iran and Jewish communities, including the following statement: “Father, you tell us in the book of Esther that the Persians, the Iranians, were wanting to kill every Jew.” He also asserted that Trump had been “chosen by God” to lead the war against Iran.

Municipal sources confirm that the EMT has been awarded the contract, through a public tender, to market and manage advertising campaigns. According to the company, the Festival of Hope campaign “has been contracted and paid for by the advertiser and will be displayed on 12 buses across 12 different lines, in a full-coverage rear format,” with a display period “from May 4 to May 31 of this year.”

This perfectly encapsulates a phenomenon that has been growing for years and is now becoming visible on a large scale: the rise of evangelicalism in Madrid. Spain now has around 1.5 million evangelicals, and this growth has been steady over the last few decades. “In 1998, barely 0.2% of the population identified with this denomination. By 2018, the figure had reached 2%,” according to data from the Observatory of Religious Pluralism. Evangelicals are now the largest minority denomination in the country, ahead of Jehovah’s Witnesses and behind Muslims.

Behind this growth lies a clear demographic reality: the migratory transformation of Madrid. “They bring with them religious practices, leaders, and networks already established in their countries of origin, which are reproduced in the neighborhoods and municipalities where they settle. In Pentecostal churches, they find a space to maintain their identity and, at the same time, mitigate the loneliness and vulnerability inherent in the migratory process,” explains sociologist Paola García in the report Integration and Migration: Pentecostal Churches in Spain.

According to data from the observatory, evangelical churches have increased by around 30% in Madrid over the last decade, rising from 662 to 855 religious centers in the region. The so-called “evangelical mile” in the Carabanchel district clearly reflects this territorial expansion, linked to cheaper rents and the concentration of the migrant population. They function as meeting places, support networks, makeshift soup kitchens, job centers, and emotional havens for thousands of newly arrived migrants. Politics is also discussed at many of these gatherings, and people are even asked to vote in elections. In districts like Carabanchel, Usera, and Tetuán, churches are multiplying in former industrial buildings, commercial spaces, and converted ground-floor premises.

The phenomenon is already drawing stadium-sized crowds. Last Saturday, some 35,000 people attended a Christian event called “The Change Madrid 2026,” held at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium. The organizers presented it as one of the largest contemporary Christian gatherings in Europe. Admission was free, although prior online registration was required. Amid lights, music, and testimonies, one of the most viral moments was the appearance of former footballer Dani Alves, who had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a nightclub. Alves was acquitted by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia in March 2025.

The former player took to the stage to speak about his religious conversion after his time in prison. “I am here to say that today Christ will break these prisons, tear down these walls, and break these chains,” he told thousands of attendees. “I spent 14 months in prison, but in prison Christ set me free.” During his speech, he emphasized the idea of ​​personal rebirth through faith: “I lost everything, but in losing everything, I found Jesus.”

The event’s aesthetic — giant screens, live music, emotional speeches, and audiovisual production — resembled a concert more than a traditional worship service. And that is precisely one of the keys to these churches’ expansion: their ability to adapt religious language to massive, contemporary formats. “Rental costs are outlined in private agreements signed between our operations team and each promoter. Our stadium hosts more than 250 events each year, and we do not share that information with any of them,” a Metropolitano spokesperson stated.

In Spain, political connections are also becoming visible. In 2023, the conservative Popular Party (PP) intensified its contacts with evangelical leaders in pursuit of the Latin American vote. One of the most visible figures is the Colombian pastor Yadira Maestre, known for her large services in the satellite town of Fuenlabrada. At various public events, she has presented awards to the regional premier, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, both of the PP, in addition to lending her church for political campaigns and petition drives.

Kenny Clewett, co-director of a global migration initiative and former evangelical pastor, knows the phenomenon firsthand. He argues that the growth of these churches responds both to the need for community and to dynamics of social exclusion: “Many migrants arrive alone, without a family network, without contacts, and with precarious jobs. The church gives them immediate belonging,” he explains over the phone. He warns, however, of the risks: “There are congregations where power is highly concentrated and where vulnerable people end up emotionally and financially dependent on the religious leader.”

He adds that some organizations use promises of healing, prosperity, or miracles as a recruitment tactic. “Not everyone comes looking for religion. Many come seeking companionship, help, or someone to listen to them.”

Luis Santamaría del Río, a researcher with the Ibero-American Network for the Study of Sects, points out that the growth of evangelical churches in Madrid is primarily due to the increase in the immigrant population (mainly Latin American, but also African and Asian), among whom neo-Pentecostalism has a strong appeal. “This is due to its ability to connect with the particularly vulnerable population at risk of social exclusion, thanks to its highly emotional services (music and elaborate gestures), its emphasis on the supernatural action of God (miracles, healings, and exorcisms), which breaks the monotony of a drab, ordinary life, and, in some cases, its ‘prosperity gospel,’ which is the belief that God blesses (also with wealth and success in this life) those who keep his commandments and, above all, are financially generous with his churches and pastors.”

Another element that explains its rise, according to Santamaría, is the overwhelming charismatic leadership of many of its leaders, who present themselves as “super pastors” who draw the masses with skillful preaching that combines the Bible and marketing to touch the hearts of their listeners, leaving aside rationality and falling into fanatical attitudes.

The growth of evangelicalism in Madrid has been discreet, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Last year, some 10,000 people filled the Vistalegre bullring to hear Brazilian preacher Edir Macedo, founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, in an event marked by testimonies, promises of healing, and live music. Now, churches no longer just occupy storefronts in the outlying neighborhoods. They’re filling stadiums too.

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