Spain Orders Jumilla to Lift Ban on Muslim Religious Gatherings

Spain's central government has ordered the town of Jumilla in Murcia to repeal a ban on religious gatherings in public sports facilities, a measure widely viewed as targeting the local Muslim community. The ban, initially proposed by the far-right Vox party and later amended and approved by the conservative Popular Party (PP), prohibited cultural, social, or religious activities deemed foreign to the city council, effectively impacting Muslim celebrations such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Spanish ministers, including Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres and Migration Minister Elma Sainz, condemned the ban as discriminatory, unconstitutional, and racist, emphasizing that freedom of worship is a constitutional right. Jumilla's officials defended the ban as a way to protect traditional local values, but their stance was criticized by Spain's leftist national government and even the Catholic Church, which supported the right to public religious expression. The controversy emerges amid broader tensions in the Murcia region involving far-right groups and immigrant communities. Vox leader Santiago Abascal criticized the Church's opposition, while the national government stressed that intolerance cannot determine religious freedoms.