Together they will vote against Vox's law to ban the burka

BarcelonaIn a new gesture of rapprochement with VoxThe People's Party (PP) announced it would vote in favor of the far-right Spanish nationalist party's bill to ban the burka and full-face veil in public spaces, which is being debated this Tuesday in Congress. The question was how Junts would vote, given its ideological support for the bill but its history of never backing any far-right initiative. In a statement, Junts clarified the situation: they will vote against Santiago Abascal's party, considering it "anti-Catalan, anti-feminist, and against human rights, a party that has led the repression in Catalonia." However, in return, Junts will register its own bill to also ban the burka in public spaces, as they already did in the Catalan Parliament. "Neither burka nor Vox," they declared. According to Junts, their proposal is a "rigorous law that meets European standards." Aside from the ban on the full-face veil, it also includes the delegation to Catalonia of state powers regarding security and identification of individuals, a point that is expected to clash with opposition from the right and far right when it is submitted to the lower house for consideration. "We say no to Vox's fascism, to populism, and to the false do-goodism of the left," they add.

This debate already shook Carles Puigdemont's party a few months ago, which ultimately decided to also ban the Islamic veil in schools. This shift occurred in the midst of an electoral campaign with Aliança Catalana, which had presented a motion in the Catalan Parliament against the Islamic veil. That motion failed to pass, and Vox, Alianza and the PP were left alone in supportingTogether, they thus respected the cordon sanitaire against the far right signed by the PSC, ERC, Comuns, the CUP, and the Junts members in the Catalan Parliament. At that time, Carles Puigdemont's party defended their vote against the far-right pro-independence motion and simultaneously supported a position in favor of banning the Islamic veil in schools, as well as the burka, niqab, and burkini in public spaces. They distanced themselves from Aliança Catalana: "You are crossing a much more serious line, the incitement of hatred; you are focusing on a specific group," then-Junts deputy David Saldoni told Sílvia Orriols. "Welcome to the far right," she retorted. In recent days, Vox has also positioned itself in favor of banning the Islamic veil in schools. Ultimately, however, she has left it out of the bill she will defend today in the lower house, which only includes a ban on the burka and niqab in public spaces, with corresponding penalties for women who wear them. Today's debate is for its consideration, that is, the one that determines whether the bill continues its legislative process or is rejected. With Junts voting against it, the initiative would not pass this first parliamentary hurdle.