Spanish bishops condemn agreement that prevents Muslim celebrations in public spaces of a small town

The Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) On Thursday, the political agreement reached between the Popular Party and Vox in the municipality of Jumilla in Murcia, which in practice prevents two major Muslim festivities: the end of the Ramadan and the Lamb Festival, the two planned for the spring next year.

Although the amendment formally does not explicitly refers to Islam, the proposal is formulated in defense of a “Spanish cultural identity”, which has generated broad criticism for its discriminatory nature.

The modification of the regulation affects the use of municipal facilities, such as sports center, which had been used in this town for years to pray collectively during the early morning for the 1,500 neighbors estimated are Muslims, of a total of 27,263 inhabitants.

The local Muslim community has described the decision as a lack of respect for their culture and faith, which until now had practiced without problems in that municipality.

In a statement, the bishops described the decision as “a discrimination that cannot occur in democracy” and warned that this measure “not only affects a religious group, but all confessions and also non -believers.”

“The limitation of these rights undermines the fundamental rights of any human being,” reads the statement, in which the EEC joins the position already expressed by the Islamic Commission of Spain.

“Public religious manifestations, understood as freedom of worship, are protected by the right to religious freedom, a fundamental human right protected by the Spanish Constitution,” the EEC recalled in explicit reference to article 16.1 of the Magna Carta.

In this sense, the bishops pointed out that the only possible intervention by public authorities is what brings together reasons for the disturbance of public order. In any case, they warned that such evaluation should be carried out “with objectivity, by specialists and with technical criteria”, so that it does not respond to “an arbitrary or ideological decision.”

“The limitation of these rights attempts against the fundamental rights of any human being, and does not only affect a religious group, but all religious confessions and also non -believers,” the statement underlines. “Making these restrictions for religious reasons is a discrimination that cannot occur in democratic societies,” the Spanish bishops found.

The CEE also explained that this principle is also recognized in article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Finally, Spanish bishops insisted that any restrictive measure aimed at protecting the common good should be applied in a generalized way to all kinds of demonstrations in public spaces, “and not only to religious”, to avoid discriminations that threaten the freedom and equality of all citizens.