SPAIN’S government has given Jumilla City Council a month to rescind a ban on Muslims holding prayer festivals in municipal sports facilities or else it will go to court.
Two Islamic celebrations have used municipal property for years- without any issues- to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the Feast of the Lamb.
The ban was approved last week by the conservative Partido Popular(PP)-run authority which needs the vote of the single far-right Vox councillor to get legislation like budgets passed.
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The government said the measure ‘violates the constitutional principles of religious freedom, equality and administrative neutrality, and constitutes a clear misuse of power’.
The Minister for Territorial Policy, Angel Victor Torres, said: “There can be no half-measures when it comes to intolerance.”
“The PP and Vox cannot decide who has freedom of worship and who does not. It is a constitutional right,” he added.
The Government Delegate to the Murcia region, Mariola Guevara, told the La Verdad newspaper that if Jumilla does not change its mind, then the State Attorney’s Office will get involved and the matter would go to court.
Legal experts are already working on the issue and if there is no response from mayor Severa Gonzalez by September 11, then ‘steps will be taken’.
Gonzalez said the council was not singling out any one group and that her administration wanted to ‘promote cultural campaigns that defend our identity’.
Implementation has been suspended anyway as a report is being prepared for Jumilla City Council on the measure’s legality.
The authority says it will reverse its decision if its advisors find it to be illegal.
It is the second race-related controversy in Murcia this summer- following on from the Torre Pacheco riots.
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How come you have a free paper but have to Pay for online news?
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It is unusual for a Muslim community of any size not have built their own premises in which they can carry out their religious obligations. Is there any background to this unusual situation?