This week, R.W. Bro. Shaun Parsons-Herrera, the Deputy Grandmaster of Spain, wrote an excellent editorial in El Oriente about the increase in Masonic membership in Spain. The article is reproduced below.
I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the dedicated efforts of the Brethren of the Province of Valencia, whose significant contributions have resulted in a notable increase in our membership. The Provincial Membership Committee has diligently implemented various strategies to attract new members, a crucial objective.
We have streamlined inquiry processes by directing them directly to lodges on a case-by-case basis. Furthermore, we maintain active and engaging social media platforms, ensuring timely responses to all messages. We’ve also included contact information in all press releases to enhance accessibility.
These initiatives have yielded positive results, with a 9% membership increase this year alone. This success is largely due to everyone’s commitment to promoting our esteemed fraternity, a commendable effort we hope will continue.
Fraternally
W. Bro. Matthew James GADC, ProvGSec – Provincial Grand Secretary
Article which appeared in El Oriente – the magazine of the GLE in May 2025
Growth in Spanish Masonry
The Grand Lodge of Spain is growing, and we are all witnessing it. Our email inboxes are being filled with decrees for the reactivation of lodges, the raising of columns, and the creation of triangles—a formation that has become possible once again after the constitutional reform—in a steady, continuous stream.
In my case, as I travel throughout Spain to participate in or direct ceremonies in my capacity as Deputy Grand Master, I have firsthand evidence of this phenomenon. I am delighted to see the enthusiasm among our brethren as they begin their work under newly issued or reinstated charters.
I requested the exact figures from the Grand Secretariat to confirm this impression, and here they are: since April 2022, 15 Respectable Symbolic Lodges have been reactivated or consecrated throughout Spain. That is to say, 8% of the lodges currently active in the Grand Lodge of Spain have initiated or resumed operations over the past three years. It is particularly interesting to note an explosion of rites that had previously been less established but are now growing, some with remarkable vigour: five of these lodges are working in the Modern French Rite, one in the Rectified Scottish Rite, one in the German Rite, and one in the York Rite. There is also one new lodge operating under Emulation, while the remaining six function under the most widely established rite in Spain, the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Furthermore, 13 of these lodges operate in Spanish, one in Catalan, and one in German.
In respect of triangles, it is not possible to calculate percentages since this option was only resumed in 2024. In less than 18 months, no fewer than eight new triangles have been established across six Masonic Provinces in our Obedience, reflecting a genuine passion for regular masonry in towns and locales that previously did not have a lodge and now have the opportunity to create one. In this case, six of the triangles work under the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and two under the York Rite, all operating in Spanish. Every time I see these figures, I remember—and honour — our Respectable Brother Andoni Fuentes de Cia, who has managed this task with an admirable spirit of service and, without a doubt, tremendous efficiency.
Does this translate into new membership in the Grand Lodge of Spain? The truth is that it does. From April 2022 until the writing of this editorial, the total number of registered members in the Grand Lodge of Spain—including those uninitiated who “see the light,” as well as the “planchas de quite” (a distinguished membership category), alongside new affiliations, regularisations, and brethren who have passed to the Eternal Orient—has increased by 11.6%.
It is, of course, legitimate to ask what the reasons for this growth are. There must undoubtedly be both internal and external factors. I would like to briefly analyze the internal ones, as they depend on us and likely reflect a strength and interest that is now being projected outward. The constitutional reform approved at the Grand Assembly in Fuengirola in January 2024 is, of course, fundamental for the triangles.
The attention given to media outlets that have approached the Grand Lodge of Spain—with whom we have always been willing to engage, provided that the approach is respectful—has been extensive, reflecting the new forms of communication. This includes interviews in newspapers and on radio, as well as in podcasts and on YouTube channels, both national and international. The increased availability of direct information from the official channels and networks of the Grand Lodge of Spain across a multitude of platforms helps create a solid and proactive image of the institution and its values.
I must also underscore the Grand Master’s commitment to linking his work with the recovery of the Memory of those masons (and families of masons) persecuted during the Franco regime—a discourse to which public opinion has proven very receptive once the details are fully known and prejudices are set aside. Parallel cultural and research initiatives, such as the comic “El Águila y el compás” (crafted by Worshipful Brother Juan Cantero of the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Balearic Islands) or the scholarly study of documents housed in what was formerly known as the Archive of Salamanca, have contributed significantly to the persistent, albeit challenging, task of restoring the name and honour of the Order in our country.
You can see that all this work does not go unnoticed: it represents an investment that, in the medium term, will help us grow, strengthen our columns, and enable us to look forward to a more secure future.
R.W. Bro. Shaun Parsons-Herrera – Deputy Grandmaster of Spain
The original article in Spanish can be accessed HERE