Leida Bans the Wearing of Full Veils
May 29th, 2010
Lleida City Council has become the first Spanish city to comprehensively ban burqa and niqab veils in public facilities. Faced with great anticipation from the media, the Leida council adopted the proposal at 12:38 hours with 23 votes in favour from the CiU (Convergence and Union party), the PSC (Socialists’ Party of Catalonia), the PP (Popular Party) and an independent council member, there was one vote against and two abstentions from the ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia).
The motion, which was originally put forward by the CiU, prohibits the garments in civil buildings and furthermore urges the State and the Government to regulate the veils in public, since municipalities are unable to do so independently.
Up to now, the Generalitat (Government of Catalonia) and the central Government have not been willing to prohibit the wearing of a full veil as proposed in Lleida, purportedly to avoid raising new social and political conflict.
Many experts and authorities have expressed fear that such a regulation may have the effect of nurturing a minority rebellion, while the Spanish Council of Lawyers has also rejected the veto because it believes it could create a conflict where none currently exists.
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