The prohibition was imposed by a secular parents' association in Cantabria (Cantabria FAPA) when they announced the annual card-drawing contest.
The Cantabria FAPA contest, which involves all primary school students, specifies that the drawings "may not incorporate religious motifs" and any submission with religious elements will be eliminated from the contest.
Father Fernandez Manuel Herrero, Vicar General of the Diocese of Santander, responded by asking "What defender of freedom is FAPA when it bans the expression of human freedom - the expression of religion?"