Lleida approves revised ban on full-face coverings in public spaces

Lleida’s city parliament has approved a revised municipal measure banning full-face coverings in most public spaces, reopening a legal and political dispute over garments worn by some Muslim women in Spain. The measure, approved by a 16-11 vote on Friday, prohibits people from remaining in or moving through public spaces with items or elements that totally cover the face. It does not explicitly refer to the burqa or niqab.

The burqa covers the head and body, while the niqab covers the face but leaves the eyes visible. The revised wording was designed to avoid legal problems that affected an earlier Lleida ban adopted in 2010. Spain has no national law restricting the garments.

In 2013, the Spanish Supreme Court overturned Lleida’s earlier measure after a legal challenge by a Muslim association, ruling that it infringed religious freedom and exceeded the authority of a local government. Similar municipal measures were also cancelled. The new reform provides exceptions for cases involving the exercise of basic rights, places of worship and locations or uses where such customs are socially accepted.

Violations will be punishable by fines, according to the report. Lleida’s Catalan Socialist party joined the far-right Vox and the Catalan separatist Junts in supporting the measure, an alliance described by the city hall as unusual. Socialist mayor Felix Larrosa defended the reform before the municipal parliament.

“Living together means respecting one another, and respecting one another also means following the rules,” Larrosa said, according to AFP. Lleida is a provincial capital in northeastern Catalonia with a population of about 150,000, located roughly 150 kilometres west of Barcelona.