The PP, Vox and El Pi vote in favor of banning the burka and niqab in the premises of the Consell de Mallorca
PalmThe People's Party (PP), Vox, and El Pi have approved a motion in the plenary session of the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca) demanding a ban on people wearing burkas or niqabs entering the institution's buildings. The PP presented the initiative, which received 18 votes in favor from the councilors of the three parties, compared to 13 votes against from the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands (PSIB) and Més per Mallorca. PP member Maria Garrido defended the proposal, emphasizing that in Spain, equality and human dignity "are not slogans," but rather "constitutional mandates." She indicated that this debate "went beyond a garment," arguing that it raised the question of whether, "in a democratic society, it is acceptable for a woman to walk down the street without a face covering."
Thus, she argued that the intention is not to "single out a culture," but rather to address an objective fact: that "a person's identification can be prevented" by public administrations. However, she referred to the PP's proposed law in Congress that allowed "exceptions for medical, work-related, or cultural reasons." Garrido stated that every woman "deserves to walk down the street with her face visible" and cited reasons of "legal certainty" to support the ban.
"Inequalities already overcome"
On behalf of El Pi, the spokesperson in the Consell de Mallorca, Antoni Salas, stated that his party "will not accept the normalization of inequalities that have already been overcome." Therefore, he argued that the invisibility of women and their exclusion from social relations is "violence." He also claimed to have seen burkas in Palma and emphasized that the Balearic institutions "are not alone" in this prohibition, given that similar measures have been adopted in Germany and Denmark. The representative of MÁS per Mallorca, Rosa Cursach, criticized the "neoliberal feminism" of the PP and stressed that, had they attended the March 8th demonstrations, they would have heard the "No to War" slogans. In this regard, she emphasized that her party advocates a "class-conscious and anti-racist" feminism, and that is why they seek to lower the cost of groceries and housing, ensure that women can give birth near their homes, refuse to negotiate with those who try to limit rights such as abortion, defend the regularization of migrants, and reject Israeli aggression.
Vox spokesperson Antoni Gili highlighted that "thanks to Vox" the PP has reflected and presented this motion in favor of "freedom and security," although he criticized that "it's late and poorly implemented."
PSIB island councilor Beatriz Gamundí warned that in politics "clothes say a lot about the wearer" and accused the PP of adopting "the far-right's stance" with this motion.
"Punitive populism"
Thus, she criticized them for trying to legislate from a position of "punitive populism" and asserted that the law already allows for the identification of a person if there are well-founded reasons. She also affirmed that the limit of religious freedom is "public order" and that in Mallorca "there is no trend that justifies Islamophobia."
The island representative emphasized that neutrality affects institutions but "never individuals." She also indicated that socialist feminism "does not want to control women with prohibitions based on fines or actions that confine them to their homes."
Therefore, she defended "cultural mediation, education, and respect for fundamental rights," and asked the PP not to establish this "moral supremacism."