Spain’s leftist government orders town to scrap its plan to ban Islamic festivals, declaring it ‘racist’

Spain’s leftist government on Monday ordered a town to scrap its plan to ban Islamic festivals, declaring the move ‘racist’.

It comes after the town council of Jumilla, in the southeastern region of Murcia, approved a plan last week to ban religious events from being held at public facilities such a sports halls and civic centres.

The ban was supported by Spain’s conservative People’s Party (PP), who said it sought to ‘promote and preserve the traditional value’ of the area.

It was introduced to prohibit public facilities from being used for ‘religious, cultural or social activities alien to our identity’ unless officially organised by the local council. 

Far-right party Vox had demanded the measure in exchange for backing the PP mayor’s municipal budget. 

But Spain’s national government swiftly denounced the ban, with minister for inclusion and migration Elma Sainz calling it ‘racist motion’.

Territorial Policy Minister Angel Víctor Torres announced on X on Monday that the central government had formally ordered the Jumilla council to scrap the ban, arguing it violates the constitution.

Jumilla, a wine-producing town of about 27,000 people, has a significant Muslim community, many of whom work in the agricultural sector.

For years, the community has used sports venues for celebrations such as Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

The controversy comes just weeks after far-right groups and immigrant residents clashed for several nights in another Murcia town following an assault on a pensioner on July 9 by three young men of North African origin.

The riots lasted for several days, as authorities found posts that had incited a planned ‘hunt for migrants’ on July 15, 16 and 17.

Even Spain’s Catholic Church criticised the ban in Jumilla, saying public religious expressions are protected under the right to religious freedom.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal said he was ‘perplexed’ by the Church’s stance, suggesting it might be tied to public funding or to clergy abuse scandals that he claimed have ‘gagged’ the institution.

The historic town of Jumilla was on the frontline of conflict between Muslims and Christians when the Moors were kicked out of southern Spain in the 13th century.

Muslim migrants may have felt more welcome in recent years when they have lived largely happily alongside their Spanish neighbours, and enjoyed freedom to worship.

But the decision by Jumilla town council to effectively ban religious events from being held at public sports’ facilities threatened to ignite community tensions.

Muslims have no doubt that the ruling was aimed at them as it would have prevented them from having traditional Eid prayers twice a year at the town’s Antonio Ibanez Morales football stadium.

The Daily Mail can reveal that local Muslims have up to now hired the pitch to hold prayers for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, known as the ‘lamb festival’.

The prayer events, attended by around 1,500 people, are only held between 7am and 9am on two mornings a year when the field, which is surrounded by a running track, is not being used for anything else.

But the news that they will potentially no longer be able to use the open air venue left local Muslims hurt and disappointed.

Muslim men were talking of little else, and expressed despair at the ruling, as they arrived for Friday afternoon prayers at the town’s main mosque.

Logistics worker Aouissat El Mamoun, 27, who grew up in the town and used to play football for Jumilla, said: ‘It’s really bad and I regard it as racist.

‘The football field has only been used for Eid prayers for two mornings every year for the last four years. It is always a peaceful occasion and there is never any trouble.

‘Now the council is saying that it cannot happen any more. It is embarrassing for the town and it has caused a lot of upset.

‘Before the pitch was used, people gathered for the Eid prayers outside the mosque, but there was not enough space for everyone.

‘This is all a political game. What this political party wants to do is divide the people and win votes from ignorant people.’

Others shook their heads as they arrived at the mosque, pausing as usual to snack on dates set out in boxes as a welcome snack at the entrance while a volunteer worshipper swept dust from the roadway outside.

Farm worker Adam Salifu, 43, who is originally from Ghana, said: ‘This is a peaceful town and everyone gets on with each other, whatever their religion.

‘There are people from every country in Africa in my village. Some are Muslim and some are Christian, and we have no problems with each other.

‘The Eid festival prayers are an important part of being a Muslim and now the council say we cannot hold them on the football pitch. It is outrageous.

‘We have two mosques here and always had a good relationship with the council. Now we have this. It is all down to the politicians. The ordinary people are fine.

‘What we really need is a new mosque because this one is quite congested. We are looking for some land to build, but the council have not provided anywhere.’

The ban on municipal sports facilities was suggested by Jumilla’s only councillor from the far right Vox party who singled out the ‘lamb festival’ as being at odds with Spain’s identity as a Christian country.

It was voted through in an amended form with the help of councillors from the conservative People’s Party (PP) in what many locals regard as a political favour.

Locals have suggested that it came down to the effectively hung council’s 10 PP members needing the support of the Vox councillor to vote in legislation opposed by the council’s nine socialist and one far left councillor.

Councillors appear to have been taken by surprise at the ruling having made headlines around the world, and sparking outrage in Spain from opposition leaders, Islamic groups and even Bishops.

Jumilla mayor Seve Gonzalez, a member of the PP, insisted to reporters this week that there had been no underhand political maneuvering and that there had long been talk of modifying rules to make municipal sports spaces available for the sole use of sports.

Ms Gonzalez tried to claim the motion was not about discriminating against non-Catholic faiths, saying the point was ‘defending what is ours – our traditions, those of everyone’ with activities ‘that highlight our roots’.

But the amendment was passed under the same heading as the original Vox motion which cited its objective as being ‘against foreign cultural practices such as the lamb festival’.

Critics have described the wording is a thinly veiled attack on Islamic traditions, and have warned that the ruling could breach Spain’s constitutionally protected freedom of religion.

There have been suggestions that it may be subject to legal challenge and possibly overthrown before the next Eid event, marking the end of Ramadan in March next year.

Some have even pointed out that the town was fully Islamic for hundreds of years following the Moors’ takeover of southern Spain in the eighth century.

Jumilla was originally part of the Roman empire, and then the Visigothic kingdom, until the Arab conquest when it was known as As Yumil-la.

It remained a principally Arab town until it was attacked by Christian troops led by Alfonso X of Castile in the mid-13th century.

The local Arab ruler reached an agreement under which Alfonso could be king as long as the rights of the existing population were respected, but the Moors had to be largely thrown out after Alfonso’s death.

The Daily Mail found little enthusiasm for the ruling on the streets of Jumilla with many people saying they did not believe it was fair to Muslims.

A mother-of-four who gave her name as Maria, 48, said: ‘I voted for the PP – but I don’t agree with this ban. I didn’t even realise the football pitch had been used for Eid before this all came up.

‘I agree that there is a problem with illegal immigration into Spain, but many of the Muslims who live here have been here for years. A lot of them work hard on farms. It doesn’t seem right to pick on them.’

Jumilla which is overlooked by a medieval castle and surrounded by pistachio plantations and vineyards has a population of just over 27,000 people with 7.5 per cent coming from majority Muslim countries.

Civic buildings in Jumilla fly the Spanish and regional flags, and are emblazoned with pictures celebrating the town’s festival next week for its Patron Saint, the Virgin of the Assumption.

Meanwhile the entrance to the football stadium at the centre of the row over Eid carries signs banning dogs and bicycles, and notices promoting a local bull fight and a family’s lost cat.

The town’s main streets are full of shops and cafés, and seem eerily quiet in the afternoon when businesses are closed for a siesta break and almost the only people around seem to be migrants walking home from the fields.

Many of the established Spanish population live in apartments or in narrow lanes around the town centre while Muslims tend to congregate in the north of the town which is home to the two mosques.

Much of the area has the feel of a quiet town or city in north Africa, particularly when men and boys are wearing traditional Islamic dress as they head for prayers.

One housing project of three-storey blocks called the Barrio de Los Angeles on the northern edge of Jumilla is home to a large number of Muslims, as well as poverty-stricken Spanish locals.

The area is known locally as ‘the red floors’ due to the colour of several of the red painted blocks, although several were repainted in 2008 to try and create a fresher look.

Many of the flats remain run down with rubbish strewn around walkways and some in a derelict condition with no windows.

Moroccan-born language student Mohammed Yasin, 27, who works as a day labourer and lives in one of the flats, said he was concerned about Eid prayers being banned.

He said: ‘They are only on two mornings in the year and there is never any noise causing a disturbance. I think it is discrimination against Muslims. We expect to be treated with respect, as we respect other religions.

‘People get the wrong idea about Muslims. We are not robbers or terrorists. We want to lead peaceful lives.’

A mother-of-three called Hanan, 40, who lives in the same neighbourhood added: ‘It hurts us a lot. The two festival days are far apart. I don’t see that they cause a problem.’

Another Muslim who gave his name as Hussein, 44, added: ‘We have always been treated as second class citizens. People are going to be really angry at this latest insult. Everyone should live together peacefully.’

While the Daily Mail reporter was outside the flats, he witnessed an angry confrontation in a stairwell between local youths and a Spanish man who appeared drunk or drugged.

The reporter was later approached by two Guardia Civil police officers who advised him to leave saying: ‘It is dangerous here’.

The ruling about festivals comes less than a month after several people were left injured during anti-migrant rioting in Torre Pacheco, just 70 miles from Jumilla.

The rioting which erupted over three days was sparked after a 68-year-old Spanish man he had been beaten up in the street by three men of north African origin on July 9.

The local Vox party openly gloated about the Eid ban by declaring on X: ‘Thanks to Vox the first measure to ban Islamic festivals in Spain’s public spaces has been passed. Spain is and will be forever the land of Christian people.’

But Mounir Benjelloun Andaloussi Azhari, president of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Organisations, described the ban as a direct attack on the country’s Muslim population, calling it: ‘Islamophobic and discriminatory.’

‘They’re not going after other religions, they’re going after ours,’ he told left leaning Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Referring to a recent rise of racist rhetoric and attacks, he added: ‘We’re rather surprised by what’s happening in Spain. For the first time in 30 years I feel afraid.’

Legal experts have warned the ban could face a constitutional challenge. Article 16 of Spain’s constitution grants freedom of religious belief, with the only restriction being the protection of public order.

Francisco Lucas, the Socialist leader of Murcia, accused the PP of stoking division.

‘The PP violates the constitution and puts social cohesion at risk simply in the pursuit of power,’ he stated on X.

Juana Guardiola, a former socialist mayor of Jumilla, condemned the rhetoric behind the ban.

She said: ‘What do they mean by identity? And what about the centuries of Muslim legacy here?’

Mohamed Benallal, president of the local Islamic community, publicly called for restraint and for no ‘heated’ or violent reaction to the town council ruling.

He said that the community planned to ‘take the appropriate legal measures’ against the council after an assembly, planned for September.

In an interview with El Pais, he added: ‘What worries us most is how to explain to our children that their creed is not welcome in the town.’

Miguel Moratinos, the High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, also expressed shock at the ruling.

A spokesperson for the UNAOC said: ‘He emphasises that policies that single out or disproportionately affect one community pose a threat to social cohesion and erode the principle of living together in peace – a foundation of inclusive, just and democratic societies.

‘To that end, the High Representative expresses his deep concern about the rise in xenophobic rhetoric and Islamophobic sentiments in some regions in Spain.’