After the Spanish parliament debated on February 17 a controversial bill proposed by far-right party Vox to ban the burqa and niqab in public spaces, a leading Spanish archbishop has said the burqa discriminates against women while he also called for mutual respect among religious groups.
Speaking to Crux, Archbishop Joan Planellas of Tarragona said he didn’t believe the debate itself was a good idea.
”I believe we should not get involved in these matters,” Archbishop Planellas said. “There must be a deep respect for the religious reality of each confession and belief,” he said.
“We must ensure mutual respect, respect for diversity,” he added.
“Sometimes we see the other as an enemy,” Planellas also said, “and they are not an enemy but someone with whom we must dialogue.”
Planellas went on to express his misgivings regarding the burqa, a traditional Muslim women’s garment.
“That said,” Planellas offered, “one must always keep in mind that if it concerns the burqa, it is a form of discrimination against women.”
“Forcing a woman to dress in this way is also not right,” he said.
Planellas, however, who is also president of the Conferencia Episcopal Tarraconense – a Catalonian regional bishops’ assembly established in 1969 – was keen to underline his firm respect for other religious beliefs.
“All beliefs and ways of dressing must be respected,” he said, “as long as they are not discriminatory toward women.”
The clothing ban was proposed by Vox in a private member’s bill. The party cited security issues and women’s rights among the reasons in favor of the ban. The conservative People’s Party (PP) supported the ban.
With only PP and Vox supporting the ban, the draft bill did not make it through to the next stage of the parliamentary process.
Vox MP Blanca Armario was in charge of defending the proposal yesterday in the Congress of Deputies and called the burqa a “textile dungeon” and the use of the veil as a “practice incompatible with the fundamental values of Europe.”
Andrea Fernández, from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), the party of Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, said the burqa and niqab stem from “sexist logic” and that she was willing for a “serious and rigorous debate” on the issue.
However, she highlighted “tolerance as a moral virtue” and said Vox’s proposal had “nothing to do with the dignity of women” but instead was about “their xenophobia, with the polarisation they intend to bring to Spanish society.”
