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AlmerÃa town bans burkas… right in the middle of Ramadan
Just days after Spain rejected a nationwide ban, Níjar has pushed ahead with its own restrictions
Spain may have rejected a nationwide ban on burkas and niqabs last week, but one town in Almería has decided to go it alone.
In the Congress of Deputies, a proposal from Vox, backed by the PP, to outlaw full face veils in public spaces across Spain was voted down for the second time. Other parties opposed it, meaning there will be no blanket national ban.
Yet in Níjar, the local council has approved its own measure. Women wearing burkas or niqabs will now be prevented from entering municipal buildings for in-person procedures where facial identification is deemed essential. The motion, again presented by Vox and supported by the PP, makes an exception only for accredited medical reasons.
The council says the rule is about identity verification, preventing fraud and protecting people and property. Critics say it is something very different.
Níjar has nearly 33,000 residents, with close to 15,000 registered foreign nationals. Around 110,000 Muslims live across the wider province of Almería. Community leaders argue that the measure unfairly singles them out during Ramadan.
Mayor José Francisco Garrido described a recent meeting with Muslim representatives as positive. “We had a cordial and relaxed meeting in which we exchanged points of view and talked about coexistence, mutual collaboration, integration, and respect for the law. Under the Constitution and the flag of Spain, there is room for everyone,” he said, adding that Níjar “is a land of opportunity.”
That version of events has been flatly rejected by local Muslim leaders. Abdallah Mhanna, president of the Almería Centre of Imams, called the motion “an act of the same radical, fanatical, and racist propaganda that is spreading throughout Europe.”
“How many women wear burkas in Níjar? I don’t think there are more than eight or ten in the entire province, and even if there were 20 or 30, approving this measure for such a small number of people is a sign of total ignorance, a scandal that leads us to ignorance and racism.”
For many in the community, the timing has only deepened the sense of division. Religion, Mhanna said, should unite societies, not drive them apart. It’s shocking to the imam of Almería that in this day and age, there are still people with beliefs similar "to those of Mussolini, Franco or Hitler".
Image: Ayuntamiento de Níjar
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