‘Activities for our identity’: Spanish Town bans Muslim celebrations in public places; Outrage

A city in South-East Spain, known as Jumilla in the Murcia region, has banned Muslims using public places, including Civic Center and Jim, to celebrate the religious festivals of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Dha. The first ban of its kind in Spain was introduced by the Conservative People’s Party (PP) and despite the opposition from local leftist groups, was approved with the restraint of the distant Vox party.Jumila, a city with a population of about 27,000, has about 7.5 percent of the residents, mainly from Muslim countries. The proposal stated, “Municipal sports facilities cannot be used for religious, cultural or social activities for our identity until organized by the local authority.” The Vox Party said through a post on X, “Thanks to Woakes, the first way to ban Islamic festivals in Spain’s public places has been passed. Spain is and is forever a land of Christian people.” “They are not going after other religions, they are going after us,” said Mouni Benzeloon Andalusi Ajhari, president of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Organizations. He said, “We are surprised at what is happening in Spain. I am afraid for the first time in 30 years,” he said that the offer was “Islamophobic and discriminatory.”Opposition leaders and legal experts have expressed concern that the decision may be unconstitutional.“The PP violates the constitution and keeps social harmony only as a risk in search of power,” Socialist leader Francisco Lucas in Murcia said through a position on X. “What do they mean by identity? And what about the centuries of Muslim heritage here?” Jumila’s former socialist Mayor Juan Guardiola reported The Guardian. The decision to prevent Muslims from using public facilities in Jumila may lead to legal challenges, as it violates Article 16 of the Spanish Constitution. This article “freedom of ideology, religion and freedom of worship of individuals and communities, has no other restriction on their expression, as it may be necessary to maintain the public system protected by the law.”The city was part of the Roman Empire before coming under the Arab rule in the eighth century. Known as Yumil-La during the time, it remained mainly Arab for several centuries, until the Christian forces led by Castille’s Alphonso X seized Jumila in the middle of the 13th century, The Guardian reported.The local Arab ruler initially interacted on the Capitulation of Alkatraz, an agreement that allowed Alphonso to be the king on the condition that the rights of the existing population were upheld. However, soon after Alphonso’s death, the Castilian forces invaded Jumila, ending the Arab rule in the region.