(AP) Spain’s government on Friday criticized a ban enacted in a southeastern town that prohibits religious gatherings in public sports centers, a measure that will mainly affect members of the town’s Muslim community who in recent years have used the spaces to celebrate religious holidays.
The ban — approved last week by the conservative local government of Jumilla, a town of 27,000 — has since become a flashpoint. Its critics, including Spain’s left-wing national government, have condemned the measure as discriminatory while some on the right are celebrating it as a means to uphold the nation’s Christian culture.
Spain’s Migration Minister Elma Saiz on Friday called the ban “shameful,” and urged local leaders to “take a step back” and apologize to local residents. The head of a prominent Islamic association in the country denounced the measure, saying it amounted to “institutionalized Islamophobia.”
