The Spanish government will investigate the PP and Vox's veto of Islamic celebrations in a town in Murcia.

Barcelona / MadridMurcia is once again taking center stage when it comes to migrant rights. Following the riots and racist attacks in Torre Pacheco, a motion by the PP and Vox in Jumilla City Council has set off alarm bells among the Islamic community, but also within the Church and the Spanish government. The council, in the hands of the Popular Party (PP), has just approved an amendment that opens the door to vetoing the collective prayer with which the Muslim community celebrates the end of Ramadan and the Feast of the Lamb. Pedro Sánchez's government has already said it will investigate, and the Spanish Episcopal Conference has denounced in a statement that restricting worship in public spaces is "a form of discrimination lacking in a democracy."

The PP, however, not only defends the decision but also does not contemplate reversing it, and Vox celebrates it. "The PP is the party of freedom and the constitutional party," said Jaime de los Santos, the PP's Deputy Secretary for Education and Equality, in statements to the media on Thursday. The Popular Party member didn't hesitate to point to the PSOE and Vox for "polarizing" over immigration, while the far right, from Jumilla, reaffirmed: "Every space is what it is, and if I want to pray, I go to church," said its spokesperson in the municipality, Juan Agustín Carrillo. All of this comes at a time when both parties have just approved new budgets for Jumilla, while the national political debate is looming over a possible future alliance between the PP and Vox so that the former can win the Moncloa. In fact, it is in this context that the Popular Party has toughened its discourse on immigration.

What does the approved motion say?

The Jumilla City Council's motion was approved on July 28th with the votes in favor of the PP, the abstention of Vox, and the votes against from the PSOE and a councilor from Izquierda Unida-Podem. The text asks the council to modify the regulations on the use of municipal sports facilities so that they are used "exclusively" for activities organized by the City Council and "in no case for cultural, social, or religious activities unrelated to the City Council." Furthermore, it also urges the "governing team to promote activities, campaigns, and cultural proposals that defend our [Spanish] identity and protect traditional religious values and manifestations in Spain."

Vox's abstention is due to the fact that the motion that ultimately passed was not the one originally proposed by Santiago Abascal's party, but was modified by the PP. Initially, Vox proposed a text that literally called for "banning the Feast of the Lamb and other similar commemorations alien to our traditions" to "generate internal tensions and conflicts, uprooting, and the erosion of national identity." It also called for promoting "Spanish gastronomy and butchering over foreign practices such as halal (foods permitted by the Muslim religion)."

How does the PP defend this?

Therefore, the PP is washing its hands of the issue. Génova buys into the argument of the PP spokesperson for Jumilla City Council, Mari Carmen Crus: "Where does the word Muslim appear? Or the word Islamic community? Nowhere [...]. [The motion] is a modification so that the facilities are used exclusively for sporting purposes," the councilor argued in the program. Better Late Than Never from La Sexta. "This isn't about religion or nationality, but rather a modification of the ordinance will be initiated so that sports facilities can be used for sporting activities," Crus insisted.

But the Popular Party's position overlooks the fact that the amendment was originally proposed by Vox, which they chose not to reject. Therefore, it stems from a proposal (Vox's) that attacks the right to worship of the Muslim community in the municipality.

The Islamic community, in the lurch

The Murcia council's decision leaves the municipality's large Muslim community, which numbers around 27,000 and uses these spaces to hold two of its major festivals, in the lurch. Furthermore, it represents an unprecedented measure that directly conflicts with the right to religious freedom and worship recognized in the Spanish Constitution.

"[The Muslim community in the town] is in shock," explained Walid Habbal, coordinator of the Islamic Commission of the Region of Murcia, in statements to Efe, and pointed out that the Jumilla City Council's amendment is a "step backward." "[The City Council] should have engaged in dialogue and sought alternatives, which is the most reasonable and intelligent thing to do, but that's not how things are done, especially after Torre Pacheco," Habbal added.

Spanish government investigation

"It is [a motion] absolutely racist," asserted the Minister of Inclusion and Migration, Elma Saiz, in an interview on Spanish National Television (TVE) this Thursday. Sources from the Ministry of Inclusion and Migration explain that the ministry will investigate whether the decision violates the freedom and dignity of individuals. Specifically, the department headed by Elma Saiz has announced that it will "closely monitor" the hate speech that may arise or be exacerbated by the Jumilla government agreement. They will do so through the Observatory against Racism and Xenophobia. The same sources maintain that the government is working towards a society "free of discrimination, racism, and xenophobia" and recall that freedom of religion and worship is guaranteed in the Constitution.

The Bishops also distance themselves from the decision.

But the Spanish bishops have also responded. The Spanish Episcopal Conference warned this Thursday that the restriction on worship "violates the fundamental rights of any human being, and does not affect only one religious group, but all religious denominations and non-believers." "Making these restrictions for religious reasons is discrimination that is lacking in democratic societies," they point out. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain also criticized the veto, expressing its "rejection" of "a serious democratic setback" that "violates religious freedom."

The amendment comes after the autonomous community of Murcia experienced riots and racist attacks in Torre Pacheco, in which Santiago Abascal's party not only deployed its harshest rhetoric by calling immigration a "plague," but also gave wings to extremist groups that"hunt" against the Maghrebi community in the Murcian town. In the midst of all this, the Popular Party did not stand still and decided raise the tone. The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, made a defense of the deportation of "illegal immigrants who commit crimes" and for the first time opened the door to deporting legal immigrants who commit crimes.