Spanish Government Moves to Annul Ban on Muslim Festivities in Jumilla: Report
The Spanish Government has given the Jumilla City Council, in the region of Murcia, one month to overturn its recent ban on holding Eid prayers in municipal sports facilities, according to a Monday report by El País.
The move comes after the council, led by the conservative Popular Party (PP) with support from the far-right Vox, approved a measure that refers to Muslim celebrations as “foreign cultural practices” to be excluded from public spaces.
“The regulation allows the use of the sports complex for socio-cultural activities, so the objective reasons put forward do not hold,” the government’s written warning states.
The contested measure was passed on July 28, just before municipal budget talks in which Vox’s abstention was key. It prohibits any non-sporting event in municipal sports facilities unless organized by the council itself.
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In practice, it targets the Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha prayers, which Jumilla’s Muslim community—about 1,500 of its 27,000 residents—has held at the local sports complex for at least the past four years.
The government argues the amendment hides “a real discriminatory intent,” noting that Vox’s local spokesperson “boasted about banning Muslim festivities.”
It warns that this is “a new violation of fundamental rights and freedoms by right-wing and far-right local and regional governments,” adding, “We will combat politically and legally any initiative that seeks to erode rights and freedoms and push Spain into an authoritarian dynamic.”
If Jumilla does not reverse the ban within a month, the State Attorney’s Office will take the case to court, Madrid warned.
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The case has drawn national attention, with Spain’s Ombudsman also opening an investigation into what Muslim groups have condemned as an Islamophobic act.
Source: Agencies
