Together wants to ban the Islamic veil in schools

BarcelonaJuntos wants to ban the Islamic veil in schools; the burqa and niqab in public spaces; and the burkini in swimming pools. The party made this statement to the media on Tuesday after, as ARA reported, this issue shook the executive branch on Monday, where different sensitivities surfaced within the party. The party leadership had this discussion following the Catalan Alliance motion, which will be voted on this Thursday in Parliament and advocates banning the Islamic veil in all public spaces.

There were already voices within the party calling for a position in this debate (especially several mayors), but at the same time, there are sensitivities who believe they should not embrace the same agenda as the far right. Faced with these two views, the Junts members have reached a consensus: to vote against Aliança's motion this Thursday, complying with the cordon sanitaire on the far right—as the PSC, ERC, the CUP, and the Comuns will do; but to take a public stand in favor of banning the Islamic veil during compulsory education, arguing that it is intended to avoid situations of "discrimination against women"; to ban the burqa and niqab in public spaces for "security" reasons; and to reject the burkini in swimming pools on the grounds of "health," since the condition they establish is that any swimsuit must be "technical clothing."

However, Junts admits that no concrete initiative has emerged from this political position in parliamentary chambers or municipalities. What they do provide, however, they say, is a framework for the mayors who demanded that the national leadership take a position on the matter.

The Alliance motion

Sources from Junts also make it clear that, despite agreeing with the ban on the Islamic veil in schools, they strongly reject the Catalan Alliance motion, which is scheduled to be debated this Thursday in the plenary session. The text calls, among other things, on the Catalan government to prohibit the use of the "hijab, niqab, burqa, burkini, shaila, khimar, or chador" in public spaces and centers, as well as to include them in legislation as elements that are "discriminatory" against women. The text also states that Islam is "incompatible with Western values." "There are 660,000 Muslims in Catalonia. [...] This high concentration of Islamic supporters puts coexistence at risk and gives demographic strength to a political ideology that clashes head-on with the values of our land," reads the text promoted by the far-right pro-independence movement.

"We are not going to break the cordon sanitaire," a member of Junts is emphatic. "The motion is made from a racist perspective," another source clarifies, reaffirming the same opinion. Officially, the party is speaking of a far-right motion that exudes "hate" and generates "Catalanophobia."

According to several sources, David Saldoni will be tasked with outlining Junts' position in the plenary session this Thursday and reconciling all opinions. His speech will be his last in Parliament after a long career in politics—especially in contact with the municipal world—and having decided to change his career path to the private sector. In fact, this Monday, the national leadership also ratified his replacement in the party: Joan Ramon Casals, as Efe reported.

The assignment to MP Salvador Vergés

The issue of the Islamic veil is one of the issues that Junts mayors have put on the table, believing the party should also address this issue, in addition to other topics such as halal menus in schools. Therefore, Junts sources point out, this is not a debate that has arisen as a result of the Alliance's motion in Parliament, but rather they assert that there has been an underlying rumbling within the party for some time now, demanding to take a position and "get ahead" of what Silvia Orriols's party might say.

In fact, Junts leaders have tasked Salvador Vergés, a member of Parliament and former head of the list for Girona, with maintaining constant contact with mayors, especially those in the Girona district, to try to counter the rise of the far right ahead of the upcoming municipal elections. He is the one who, also on the debate about the Islamic veil, has been gathering the opinions of regional leaders to merge into the discourse that Junts delivers at the national level.