Spanish Government Challenges Religious Ban in Jumilla
(MENAFN) The Spanish authorities have officially appealed to the Jumilla City Council, located in the Murcia region, to annul an agreement made between the primary conservative opposition, the People's Party (PP), and the far-right Vox party.
This agreement restricts religious gatherings in municipal sports facilities. According to a news agency, this move is being contested on the grounds that it infringes upon religious liberty.
Maria Dolores Guevara, the regional government delegate in Murcia, confirmed during a press briefing that the council has already been informed of the request.
As the news agency reported, the local body now has a 30-day period to issue a response.
This controversial policy is the result of an initiative by the PP, which altered a previous motion from Vox.
The original motion had specifically aimed to prohibit Islamic celebrations in the town, which has around 27,000 inhabitants and a significant Muslim population.
As noted by government insiders in statements to the news agency, the resolution "arbitrarily restricted" a long-standing religious festivity, thereby breaching the Muslim community's entitlement to religious freedom.
This breach, they argued, is being perpetrated by both local and regional governments led by the political right and far-right factions.
Officials also stated that the current rules already permit the use of the sports centers for cultural and social purposes.
They emphasized that "the true discriminatory intention of the agreement can be seen both in the original text and in the statements of the Vox spokesperson, who has boasted of banning Muslim holidays."
In its formal communication, the central government maintained that this local decision "incurs an abuse of power, using municipal authority to prevent Muslim religious celebrations in an improper and deviant manner."
While the measure seems to merely regulate access to sports facilities, the request concluded, "this formal appearance clearly conceals a violation of the fundamental right to religious freedom."
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