Spanish town bans wearing of burqa in municipal buildings

Lerida (Spain), May 29 (ANI): The Catalan council of Lerida has approved a law prohibiting the use of full-face veils, the first authority in the country to do so.

The move in Spain, where three percent of the population is Muslim, follows a burqa ban in Belgium.

Earlier this week, the Telegraph had quoted the Lerida mayor"s office, as saying that the town could become the first in the country to ban the wearing of the burqa in municipal buildings

The mayor's officer said that a proposal in this regard has been forwarded to the legal services department to look into the possibility of banning the garment in all public spaces in the name of the fundamental rights of women.

Few women wear the full veil in Lerida, a town in the Catalonia region that has about 140,000 residents, one-fifth of whom are immigrants including from North Africa.

The garment has sparked intense debate in many European countries, with Belgium deputies last month backing a draft law banning the garment in all public places, including on the streets, in a first for Europe.

France"s cabinet has also approved a draft law to ban the full-face veil from public spaces, opening the way for the text to go before parliament in July.

Spain"s socialist government is opposed to legislating against the burqa. (ANI)