Santiago Abascal, spokesman for Vox, during rally in Plaza de Colón, Madrid, Spain. Lito Lizana/Press Association. All rights reserved.
The
relationship between VOX ̶ headed by its leader Santiago Abascal ̶ and
the Muslim community has never been easy. Back in 2015 when VOX (founded at the
end of December 2013) was still a very minoritarian political force relatively
unknown in Spain, Abascal and the leader of the Islamic Commission of Spain at
that moment, Natalia Andújar, engaged in a fierce verbal confrontation. The
origin of the battle was an article that the head of VOX had published in the online
newspaper Libertad Digital entitled “Caballo de Troya” (Trojan Horse) in which he warned about the
potential dangers of allowing Muslim students to be taught Islam in primary
school as the then government allowed. Abascal argued that they were according Islam
“a dangerous privilege”. Predictably, Andújar replied calling him “a xenophobe as well as an Islamophobe promoting anti-democratic
values”. Abascal responded, reiterating his warning.
Three
years after that incident, the position of VOX towards Muslims and Islam has
not budged. During the recent electoral campaign in Andalusia in the last month
of November 2018, the central term in party speeches was “Reconquista”
(Reconquest). Even though some deny that this amounts to a religious crusade of
Christians against Muslims, the term historically refers to the expulsion of
Muslims by Isabel – Abascal’s role model for a politician – and Fernando (the
Catholic Kings), de facto spelling the end of the kingdom of Granada, the end
of Muslim rule in Spain after eight centuries of domination especially in
Andalusia (Al-Andalus) and, ultimately, the end of Islam in Europe in 1492. The
connotations of that word are clear: the ‘new conquest’ of Spanish territory
for the principles VOX defends.
The
Muslim community represents a growing 4% of the Spanish population, almost 2 million inhabitants, of whom more than 800,000
are Spanish citizens. Clearly the promise made by VOX in its electoral campaign
was of special importance to them. As with the rest of electoral programme, Abascal’s
articulation of what the party thought about minorities and measures to be
implemented in relation to immigrants pulled no punches.
In 2017,
the president of VOX contended that there was no danger of Islamophobia in
Spain: the real danger was Islamophilia.
Judging Islam
VOX claimed
they disliked Islamic pillars of their religion such as the lack of separation
between religion and politics as well as the basic way Muslims saw the world (for
example, the treatment of women). Abascal, like many other citizens, judged a whole
religion practiced by around 1600 million followers throughout the world on the
basis of a homogenous block without any potential for differentiation, while
typically confusing the culture, religion and politics implemented in the name
of their faith.
The
problem is that Abascal is not only an average citizen but also and especially the
head of a political party, so his choice of words has an impact on whether hundreds
of thousands of Spaniards reject or trust the Muslims among them. Consequently
that choice should be made cautiously. Or maybe this was entirely calculated.
Just
before the electoral campaign in Andalusia began in the autumn 2018, he said in
a talk in Gran Canaria that immigrants from South America would be preferred
over and above those coming from Islamic countries, since the former share our
language, culture and worldview, adding that he feared 4% of Muslims living in
Spain could “become a problem”. The kind of problem he had in mind was never
clarified.
During
a meeting last November with 700 people overcrowding a hotel in the city of
Cordoba, the candidate of the party for the province, Alejandro Hernández
Valdés, stated they were going to fight those who wanted to turn the cathedral
into a mosque, an ancient and deeply rooted controversy ever present in
Andalusian society.
In a radio interview with the popular journalist Carlos Herrera just a
couple of days before the election, Abascal argued that immigration should be
regulated in relation to the economic demands of the country as well as “according
to their compatibility with our culture” so that “we don’t have to have to
change our traditions or the menu in schools”. The reference was to the
inclusion of halal menus in primary schools if a minimum of 10 students
requires it, as guaranteed by Cooperation Agreements signed by the Government
and the Spanish Islamic Commission in 1992.
By mid-December,
after the Andalusian elections and the unexpectedly steep victory of VOX that took
place, the Catalan independentist politician, Najat Driouech, a Muslim woman
wearing a hijab, called VOX’s ideology “male chauvinist” in the Catalan
Parliament. Abascal’s reaction on Twitter was quick and inappropriate. Using an
ugly term of address (calling Mrs. Driouech “this (esta)” rather than
addressing her by her name) he told her “to look first to her own home” (obviously her religion, italics
added) before describing them as male chauvinists.
That Najat
Driouech was insulted in this way by the political leader of a party that had
won a historic 12 seats in the Andalusian Parliament the first time they ran in
elections, is worrying enough. No less so was the proliferation of racist and Islamophobic
comments made by citizens following him up on social media. Classic Islamophobic
tropes of women’s oppression under Islam (for wearing a hijab), curbs on
expressing their opinions, or not being born in Spain despite having Spanish
nationality were once again the most frequent slurs.
So, the
relationship between VOX and the Muslim community was complicated from the
outset. Muslims are the most numerous religious minority in Spain and their
status as citizens seems now seems under threat from VOX’s political arsenal. There
were problems in Spanish society in relation to Muslims even before VOX burst into
the political arena. But this kind of explicit attack, unfortunately familiar in
the wider European context we belong to, is something very recent on the
Spanish political scene.