Spain: First municipal plan against islamophobia pioneered in Barcelona

On 17 January, the Barcelona City Council presented its municipal plan to combat Islamophobia which aims at guaranteeing social cohesion and protecting human rights, as part of the Barcelona City of Rights programme. It is the first time such comprehensive plan against Islamophobia is elaborated on a municipal level in Spain. 

In line with the rise of the anti-discrimination initiatives by local authorities, the Plan wants to draw attention to Islamophobia as a form of discrimination, counteract the spread of negative ideas about Islam and Muslims, normalise religious diversity in the city and strengthen mechanisms to combat Islamophobic discrimination. The document sets out 28 measures to support the most vulnerable victims and recurrent cases, such girls rejected by their social environment when they start wearing a veil, difficulties in opening prayer centres, insults on public transport, labour market discrimination against bearded young men and so on. Preventing will also be an important components of the Plan.

Over eighty people, including human rights and discrimination experts, specialised municipal staff, social entities and organisations from the Muslim community were involved in the development of the Plan which has a budget of over 100,000 euros. A Hate Crime and Hate Speech Observatory will be created, training for municipal workers - including the City Police - will be organised and fines against discriminatory acts or behaviours are to be given. This pioneer municipal Plan also mobilises existing structures such as the city Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) which will document hate crimes and activate mechanisms for official reporting and litigation.

Islamophobia has become the main hate crime across Spain and hate crime rose by 19% in 2015 compared to 2014 and 40% in comparison to 2013 in the province of Barcelona. 'It is urgent to raise awareness on existing Islamophobia ... which violates basic human rights and makes us more fragile as a society. The best antidote for hate and intolerance is the recognition of the religious, political and cultural diversity in the world of Islam', affirmed Deputy Mayor Jaume Asens.

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