The national leadership of the Popular Party (PP) reaffirmed its support this Thursday for the ban on Islamic celebrations at sports facilities promoted by the People's Party (PP) in Jumilla (Murcia). Their local party, which governs the municipality of 27,000 inhabitants, pushed through the unprecedented measure last week. It did so after four years and in response to a motion"in defense of the customs and habits of the Spanish people" presented by the sole Vox councilor, who just this Wednesday facilitated the approval of the PP's Jumilla budget. Génova is not backtracking, but at the same time is trying to relieve itself of the political pressure caused by the consequences of the change in the regulations. The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has expressed her “strongest condemnation” of the motion approved by the Murcia plateau council, which she described as “absolutely racist” and regrets that the PP and Vox are using these small towns as “laboratories” for what Spain could be like with a right-wing and far-right government. The government delegate in Murcia, Mariola Guevara, stated this Thursday through her X account that the veto by both parties is due to a “racist maneuver by the PP and Vox to disrupt the life” of the community and warned: “Whoever breaks the law will be held accountable, whoever they may be.”
Instead of backing down, the PP defined itself this Thursday as"the party of freedom" and "constitutionalist." It accused the PSOE and Vox of "polarizing" the political debate over the regulatory change in Jumilla. This was how the PP's Deputy Secretary for Education and Equality, Jaime de los Santos, spoke to the media in Madrid."We will never point fingers at anyone for what they believe or what they pray, and just as I, as a Catholic, ask for respect for my faith, how could I not respect any other faith?" he argued.
Génova seeks to bolster its justification that the approved amendment does not textually single out either Islam or Muslims, and that the decision not to hold other types of events at Jumilla's sports facilities applies to any religion. Therefore, they maintain, the new regulation is not discriminatory. Both Génova and municipal sources also assert that the Jumilla City Council is now seeking other venues for the two major Muslim rites.
But De los Santos did not respond this Thursday to journalists' specific question about why this measure is being promoted right now, after Vox filed its motion expressly targeting Muslims and in the midst of local budget negotiations. Nor did he explain why they did not reject the motion outright, without presenting an alternative amendment as a trick to overcome the obstacle that, with this amendment, would similarly deny that the Feast of the Lamb and the end of Ramadan can be held at the municipality's sports facilities next year.
“What was approved in Jumilla did not receive the affirmative vote of Vox. No to fake news, no to grandiloquent issues that seek to set fire to an exemplary country,” De los Santos stated, balancing his efforts to avoid explicitly answering the question. It is true that Vox abstained from voting, but that abstention was necessary for the measure to be approved. And, in this way, Santiago Abascal's party can claim that it does not fully agree with the content of the text, which differs from the initial one presented by the far right. “In Spain, we have never had a problem with immigration. The problem is not migrants, but who manages them. And the management lies with the Spanish government. Don't allow this to be about good and bad; this is about order, about respecting human rights,” De los Santos concluded, assuring that his party will always place “each person's individual beliefs” at the center of its policies, respecting whether “one believes in one, seven, or no god.” And he has accused the Government of wanting to make the PP look like a"xenophobic" party.
On the executive side, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration warned this Thursday that they will condemn"any discriminatory initiative." They will also closely monitor "hate speech that may arise or be exacerbated by these initiatives that violate people's freedom and dignity" through the Observatory Against Racism and Xenophobia (Oberaxe), which reports to Elma Saiz's department. The minister assured that the organization will act to"stop any attempt to spread hatred against the migrant population," as happened in Torre Pacheco, and expressed her"strongest condemnation" of the regulatory change approved in Jumilla, which she described as"absolutely racist." She also lamented that the PP and Vox are using these small towns, in the opinion of the socialist leader, as"laboratories" for what Spain could be like under her leadership. At the regional level, the Murcian government of Fernando López Miras agreed two months ago with Vox on the territorial budgets after giving in on immigration policies, which mirrors what has happened on a small scale in Jumilla.
However, Saiz avoided answering on TVE whether the Executive will take the Murcia City Council's decision to court, but insisted that they will be"very forceful" to "guarantee maximum respect for the Constitution." The minister denounced the fact that actions "that seem harmless," such as promoting sports in sports centers, are attempting to instill"fear" and "despair" in people who have spent years or decades in these municipalities "contributing, integrating, and working."
The initiative has also been harshly criticized by the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations, Félix Bolaños, on the social network X:"What the PP and Vov are doing in Jumilla is another example of their extremist and exclusionary drift. Their project: to impose a political and social model contrary to the Constitution, in which only they fit. Today, the target is a person with a different creed. Tomorrow, it could be you."
