Evolution and development of female religious schools in Spain

Abstract

In Spain the education, which can be defined as private, was
traditionally held by the Church, which carried out the task of
educating through their educational institutions. The causes of
this predominance mainly reflect the Catholic tradition of the
country, but in addition, from the nineteenth century on, when an
increasing number of citizens accesses studies, the schools of the
Church learned how to respond to a growing demand that state
institutions seemed unable to satisfy. These circumstances,
together with other causes, led the schools run by these
organizations spread over the Spanish territory in urban
situations, and consolidate as the preferred option for a rising
social sector, the middle class, who chose to train especially for
his daughters, religious schools.