The PP and Vox are not only competing at the gates of the next electoral event on March 15 in Castilla y León. The traditional right and the extreme right also do so by championing the ban on the burqa and the niqab in public spaces, which in the first case hides the woman’s entire body and in the second only reveals the eyes, a debate that Santiago Abascal’s party will take to the Congress of Deputies this Tuesday. The plenary session of the Chamber will debate the taking into consideration of a proposed organic law for the prohibition of its use, including “private places with a projection to a public space or use.” The measure does not affect the hijab or Islamic veil, a garment and sign of religious identity that only covers the hair and neck.
The PP spokesperson in the Lower House, Ester Muñoz, confirmed this Sunday that her party will vote in favor of the initiative. “We have to look at the issues that unite us [con Vox]”, he maintained. The leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, gave as an example of an attractive proposal from Vox “respect for the dignity of people on the issue of the burqa” in an interview this Sunday in The World.
Vox’s proposal “for the protection of the dignity of women and citizen safety in public spaces” justifies in the statement of reasons that “the massive arrival of immigrants from countries with strong Islamist influence” raises the question of how public powers should act against those who “intend to impose Islamist customs in public spaces.” “A false notion of tolerance could lead to allowing the progressive normalization of habits such as the mass movement of people with their faces covered, but this would mean admitting as current a custom that is simply incompatible with the way of life of our civilization, in addition to entailing serious dangers for citizen security,” it is alleged.
The text defends prison sentences of one year and six months to three years for those who impose “through violence, intimidation or any form of coercion, the use of veils called niqab and burqa.” And it adds that if “the victim” is “in a situation of special vulnerability” due to illness, disability or being a minor, the person responsible will be punished with a prison sentence of two years and six months to four years.
It also promotes the modification of the laws on the protection of citizen security and on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain with the purpose that those originating from other countries who carry out conduct classified as very serious can be expelled from Spain “after processing the corresponding administrative file and through a reasoned resolution that assesses the facts that constitute the infraction.” The ultra party, which announced in November the proposal to debate the ban on the full veil in Parliament, intends to modify the Citizen Security law to punish the use of the niqab or burqa in public spaces with up to 600 euros, as well as the imposition of the same by the parents or guardians of a minor. Recurrence of this violation could be punished with a fine of up to 30,000 euros.
Last summer, the PP already included the rejection of the burqa and the niqab. “No tradition or belief can justify practices that make women invisible or oppress. The use of the burqa or the niqab represents a symbolic and practical denial of their freedom and collide with higher principles such as security. In the face of this, we vindicate the values of dignity, autonomy and full participation of women in the public space, essential principles of our democracy,” the popular ones stated. Along these lines, the Parliament of the Balearic Islands, a community that the PP governs in a minority, approved in early February a non-law proposal to urge the central government to prohibit the use of the burqa in public spaces. The initiative had the approval of the PP and Vox and the refusal of the PSOE and other left-wing parties.
The measure will also force Junts to position itself at the height of the rise of Aliança Catalana, which could surpass it as the second force in Catalonia with an Islamophobic and pro-independence discourse. Last May, the neoconvergent executive approved the position against the burqa and the niqab and also against the use of any type of veil by minors in public spaces of compulsory training, whether in schools or in extracurricular and extra-sports activities. If Junts votes in favor, the bill will be taken into consideration, although its subsequent processing will depend on the Chamber Table, where the left has the majority.
