‘Institutionalized Islamophobia’: How Anti-Islam Rhetoric Is on the Rise in Spain

A Spanish municipality has sparked outrage and condemnation after it banned Muslim celebrations in municipal buildings and public spaces. 

Several political and human rights groups considered this a direct blow to religious freedom in the country.

The Spanish government, led by Pedro Sanchez, announced that it would closely monitor developments in this matter, particularly those related to the rise in hate speech and discrimination.

Critics fear that it could lead to a wider wave of restrictions on Muslim religious and cultural manifestations in other regions, while supporters argue that it only aims to prevent the use of public facilities for religious events.

Observers believe that the measure could face potential legal challenges, given its conflict with the Spanish Constitution, which only allows restrictions on such religious rights in cases related to maintaining public order.

The decision comes after weeks of unrest in the city of Torre Pacheco following the assault of a Spanish citizen, fueling anti-immigrant rhetoric that the Vox party has exploited in its extremist campaigns.

Dangerous Decision

A decision issued by the municipality of Jumilla, located in the Murcia region of southeastern Spain, on July 28 to ban the use of public facilities for Islamic religious celebrations sparked widespread controversy and criticism from civil society organizations and left-wing politicians.

The decision, the first of its kind in the country, prohibits religious celebrations such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha from being held in civic centers, stadiums, and sports halls.

According to the text of the decision, the municipality seeks to protect the values and traditions that constitute Spain's cultural identity.

Many see this as a deliberate disregard for the country's Islamic history and a disregard for the reality of the town, which is home to approximately 27,000 Muslims.

According to a report published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the decision was passed by an alliance between the conservative Popular Party (PP), which holds a majority in the local council with 10 seats, and the far-right Vox party, which has only one member.

In turn, the far-right Vox party described the decision as a political achievement, asserting that Spain will remain a land of the Christian people.

Vox spokesman Juan Agustin Carrillo defended the decision as a means of protecting Spanish cultural and religious identity, claiming that Islamic celebrations are customs alien to Spanish society, a statement seen as inflammatory and anti-Islamic.

In contrast, parties such as the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the left-wing populist party Podemos considered this measure a threat to social cohesion.

Miguel Angel Perez Triano, Secretary General of the PSOE in Ceuta, asserted that what is happening in Jumilla represents a dangerous slide toward hate speech and the explicit complicity of the PP with extremist positions characterized by racism and Islamophobia.

Francisco Lucas Ayala, leader of the Socialists in Murcia, considered the decision to be unconstitutional and to undermine social cohesion for political gain.

MP Mariola Guevara Cava criticized the decision, considering it a regional experiment in racist policies at a time when immigrants play a key role in several local economic sectors.

Juana Guardiola, a Socialist Party councilor and former mayor, considered the PP to have polished Vox's extremist agenda. 

She questioned the concept of identity used to justify exclusion, recalling centuries of Islamic heritage that have characterized the region.

Systematic Discrimination

In the same context, Muslim community leaders and Islamic organizations in Spain denounced the Jumilla municipality's decision, considering it a clear act of discrimination that attempts to circumvent the religious manifestations of Muslims, without affecting the religious or cultural activities of other communities.

In a statement to El Pais, Mounir Benjelloun Andaloussi Azhari, president of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Organizations, described the decision as discriminatory and Islamophobic, warning of an unprecedented wave of religious exclusion.

“They are not targeting any other religion, but only our religion... For the first time in 30 years, I feel afraid in Spain,” he added.

Mohamed El Ghaidouni, secretary of the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain which represents more than 900 Muslim communities in the country, meanwhile called the ban institutionalized Islamophobia.

Paulino Ros, a journalist and sociology professor, noted that these prayers have been held for years in a peaceful atmosphere, coinciding with Holy Week celebrations, without any incidents.

Spain's Catholic bishops warned that the move violates fundamental rights and discriminates against all faiths.

UN special envoy to combat Islamophobia Miguel Moratinos expressed deep concern about the rise in xenophobic rhetoric and Islamophobic sentiments in some regions in Spain.

Muslims constitute over 7.5% of the population of the municipality of Jumilla, making the decision even more sensitive and reinforcing accusations of a systematic trend toward marginalizing Muslims and restricting their religious practices in public spaces.

In a related development, Muslim communities in major cities, such as Madrid, are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain permits to hold their religious celebrations in public spaces.

They accuse these municipalities of intransigence and procrastination, while these events remain official and local holidays in the Muslim-majority cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

The escalation of such measures is attributed to a wave of far-right tensions and unrest that has recently gripped Spain.

Analysts believe that what is happening is part of a systematic policy aimed at stifling Muslim communities.

Far-right parties are exploiting such issues to spread hate speech and incitement, exploiting nationalist sentiment and protecting traditions.

Experts warned that these conflicts will escalate if the authorities do not embrace true values of coexistence and integration, threatening social peace in Spain.

Institutionalized Islamophobia

The Spanish newspaper Cadena SER reported that the central government in Madrid has decided to formally appeal the decision issued by the Jumilla municipality.

The government considered this decision an example of institutionalized Islamophobia and a clear violation of fundamental constitutional rights, most notably religious freedom and state neutrality.

It pointed out that the final text of the decision appears to be formally neutral, but it clearly intends to deprive Muslims of practicing their religious rituals, especially since these prayers were normally held in these facilities without any significant problems.

It emphasized that the decision violates Article 16 of the Spanish Constitution, which stipulates freedom of religious belief, and also contradicts the principle of religious neutrality that public institutions must adhere to.

An official source in the Ministry of Integration, Social Security, and Migration said that the ministry will rely on the National Observatory against Racism and Xenophobia (Oberaxe) to monitor racist and Islamophobic discourse that may result from such measures.

The ministry described the Jumilla municipality's decision as an attack on human dignity and a violation of fundamental freedoms, emphasizing that no local decision can violate these constitutionally guaranteed principles.

In a related context, Spanish Justice Minister Felix Bolanos wrote on X that the government will confront these exclusionary policies with the same firmness with which it confronted attempts to restrict women's freedom and impose censorship in some regions.

“In the face of local councils' slide toward extremism, we will stand up to defend the constitution, citizens' rights, and the religious freedom of all who live on this land,” he said.

In turn, Saleh Ahmad, a Syrian refugee residing in Madrid, explained to Al-Estiklal that “the Jumilla municipality's decision is not merely a local administrative decision, but rather a worrying indicator of the growing anti-Muslim populist rhetoric in Europe in general, and Spain in particular.”

“If Spain wants to protect its Christian heritage, it cannot do so at the expense of its constitution, which guarantees religious, intellectual, and ideological freedoms, especially in light of the growing threat to these freedoms from populist and extremist political parties,” he said.

He pointed out that anti-Islam rhetoric has recently increased in a number of European countries under the guise of identity protection or cultural security, emphasizing that such policies fuel division and marginalize broad segments of citizens and residents.

Although 56.1% of Spaniards identify as Catholic, Catholicism is not Spain’s official religion. Spain has no state religion; rather, it is committed to the protection of religious plurality.