August was a particularly prolific month for church vandalism in Spain. In what the Observatory for Religious Freedom, a Spanish non-profit civil group, called “Black August”, seven attacks on Catholic churches were reported.
The attacks took place across the country, beginning on 11 August at Santa Catalina in Rute, in the southern province of Córdoba. Black paint was poured over the church steps just days before the annual celebration of the Assumption. The feast is of particular importance locally, as the town's patron is the Virgen del Carmen.
