The conservative council in Jumilla, Murcia, has proposed barring Muslim religious festivals from municipal venues—sparking a fierce debate over Spain’s commitment to religious freedom and identity.
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conservative local government in a small Spanish town has put forward a ban on allowing the town’s public spaces to be used for Muslim religious festivals or celebrations.
The town of Jumilla, a small agricultural hamlet of around 27,000 in Murcia, in southeastern Spain, has voted on a measure that states “municipal sports facilities cannot be used for religious, cultural or social activities alien to our identity unless organized by the local authority”.
The measure was put forward by the conservative Partido Popular (People’s Party), known by the acronym PP, and passed with abstention by the far-right party Vox. Local left-leaning parties opposed the measure.
The measure is merely a proposal; it will now be passed on to the regional government of Murcia for debate and a further vote. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo notes that the party makeup of the regional legislature chamber rules out any chance the proposed bill would be approved and allowed to be put into law.
Vox has strategically supported such initiatives around the country, but the vote in Jumilla was the first one that was successful. A similar proposal was recently put down by the Zaragoza city council, and the party has filed a similar proposal in the regional government of Aragon, in the north of the country.
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The party justifies the measures as a means to “defend Spanish identity against Islamization.” The local Vox party account on the social platform X crowed about the passage Wednesday, proclaiming, “Spain is and always will be a land of Christian roots!” That post, which included a link to a since-removed article from the Spanish right-wing news site La Gaceta, was later shared by the national party account.
Just over 7% of the population of Jumilla comes from countries with large Muslim populations, slightly ahead of the roughly 5% of Spain’s overall population estimated to be Muslim. A large number of the town’s population works in the nearby vineyards. Although not a popular broad-scale tourism destination, the town is noted among oenophiles for the quality of its wine.
Spain’s history with Islam is been fraught for centuries. Large portions of the Iberian Peninsula—including Murcia— had Moorish Muslim rulers from the 8th century C.E. until the 15th century C.E., concluding with the Reconquista, or reconquering of the country by Christian rulers. The 1492 surrender of Granada to Catholic forces ended nearly eight centuries of Muslim rule in the region.
The country’s current constitution guarantees free exercise of religion. Article 16 says that “Freedom of ideology, religion and worship of individuals and communities is guaranteed, with no other restriction on their expression than may be necessary to maintain public order as protected by law.”
According to Spanish government data, nearly 60% of the population identify as Roman Catholic, but 40% of those consider themselves “non-practicing.” About 36% of Spaniards identified themselves as atheist, irreligious, or agnostic.
Major public Islamic festivals include Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims fast, and Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the annual Hajj season, when some Muslims make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The President of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Organizations, Mounir Benjelloun Andaloussi Azhari, told the Spanish newspaper El País that the proposal was “Islamophobic and discriminatory.” “They’re not going after other religions; they’re going after ours. We’re rather surprised by what’s happening in Spain. For the first time in 30 years, I feel afraid.”