Spanish municipality bans Muslim celebrations

The Jumilla municipality has approved a motion banning Islamic celebrations in the town, which belongs to the autonomous community of Murcia. Vox initially proposed "prohibiting the public celebration of the so-called Feast of the Lamb and other similar celebrations," as they were "practices incompatible with the identity, customs, and traditions of the Spanish nation."

The Popular Party (PP) reworded the text of Vox's motion, but approved the motion that mandated that Islamic celebrations not take place in public spaces in Jumilla. The Spanish Islamic community criticized the move, as did the Spanish Socialists, who accused the Popular Party of "failing to respect fundamental rights" to religious freedom.

The Popular Party amended part of Vox's text—which, for example, considered it important to defend "Spain's identity, values, and religious manifestations." Furthermore, the Popular Party believes that the city's infrastructure (where the Islamic festival was to be held) should not be used to host religious events. Vox ultimately disagreed with the PP's modifications in full, abstaining from the vote on the motion, while all ten Popular Party members voted in favor (the Socialists and Unidas Podemos voted against).

The PP's Deputy Secretary of Education and Equality, Jaime de los Santos, came out in defense of the motion's approval this Thursday. The Popular Party places "individual beliefs" at the center of its policies and guarantees respect for them. "We will never criticize anyone for believing what they believe, no matter what they pray. As a Catholic, if I ask for respect for my faith, how can I not ask for respect for any other faith?"

Jaime de los Santos also criticized Vox and the PSOE , accusing them of trying to "politicize" the issue. For the popular party leader, Santiago Abascal's party is inventing "lies" about immigrants and Muslims, while the PSOE wants to portray the PP as a "xenophobic" party.

Mounir Benjelloun Andaloussi Azhari, president of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Organizations, said the motion is "discriminatory" and aims to prevent Muslims from "enjoying their festivals." "They don't go against other faiths, they go against ours . It's an Islamophobic proposal."

The town of Jumilla has about 1,500 Muslims. Recently, tensions have risen among the Islamic community in southern Spain following riots in Torre-Pacheco, also in Murcia.