Spain overturns town ban targeting Muslim festivities

Spain’s central government has intervened to overturn a controversial local measure that prohibited religious celebrations in municipal sports facilities, a decision widely seen as targeting Muslim festivities.

The town council of Jumilla, located in the southeastern Murcia region, approved the ban last week with the backing of the conservative Popular Party (PP). Officials claimed the move was intended to “promote and preserve the traditional values” of the area. The measure had been a key demand of the far-right Vox party in exchange for supporting the PP mayor’s budget.

The order to scrap the ban came swiftly from Madrid. Minister for Inclusion and Migration Elma Sainz denounced the decision as a “racist motion”, while Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres announced on X that the measure violates Spain’s constitution and must be rescinded.

Jumilla, a town of around 27,000 residents, is home to a sizable Muslim community, many employed in the agricultural sector, who have for years used public sports venues for gatherings such as Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

The dispute comes amid heightened tensions in Murcia, following nights of unrest in another town where far-right activists and immigrant residents clashed after an assault on a retired man by a young North African.

Even the Catholic Church spoke out against the Jumilla ban, noting that public religious expressions fall under Spain’s constitutional right to religious freedom. Vox leader Santiago Abascal expressed “perplexity” at the Church’s position, speculating it could be linked to state funding or clergy abuse scandals that he claimed had “gagged” the institution.