Alex Trelinski
ANOTHER Murcia region town has ignited controversy over Islamic festivals using municipal property.
After the on-going row in Jumilla, a far-right Vox party councillor in Las Torres de Cotillas has claimed a prayer event has been cancelled because he thought it was ‘illegal’.
The Partido Popular(PP) mayor has denied any such move and that the Vox party’s statement had ‘nothing to do with the municipal government’.
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Vox’s Pablo Alberto Ruiz is the councillor for Citizen Security, Civil Protection and Mobility.
In a local Vox party posting on Facebook, it stated: “Our councillor Pablo Alberto Ruiz achieves the cancellation of the Islamic prayer in the sports centre of Las Torres de Cotillas, defending the Catholic-Christian culture and compliance with the law.”
In an earlier posting, Vox said that the PP ‘ceded the facilities without the payment of municipal taxes for the day’s event presided over by an imam from Morocco’.
“The Department of Citizen Security, Civil Protection and Mobility requested all the information about this event and it was cancelled,” the posting added.
The PP mayor of Las Torres de Cotillas, Pedro Jose Noguera, told the La Verdad newspaper that no such ban involving the Islamic community had taken place.
Jose Noguera said; “There was no registered request for the use of the facilities as such procedures are usually done informally.”
He continued: “It was noted that on the required date, the sports centre had already been reserved for something else and so they were going to use another venue.”
“If it would have been possible to hold prayers in the sports centre this year, then permission would have been granted,” the mayor said.
His comments contrast with that of Vox councillor, Pablo Alberto Ruiz.
“Where Vox governs there is no place to break the law. Our duty is to ensure that all acts and activities that take place in municipal spaces comply with current regulations and respect all residents,” he stated.
“It is time to put an end to the imposed dogmas and focus on what really matters like safety, well-being and coexistence in our municipality,” he added.
Las Torres de Cotillas is governed by a PP-Vox coalition, with the PP having seven councillors, and Vox four representatives.
Spain’s government has given Jumilla council until next month to reverse its ban on religious groups using municipal facilities- or else face legal action.
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