Court Suspends Face-Veil Ban in Northern Spanish City of Lleida

18 January 2011

A court in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia has suspended a ban on face-covering veils in municipal buildings which was put into effect by by the city of Lleida (pictured above) last month.

The ban was approved in July by the municipality and applied to 130 locations in the city, including municipal halls and swimming pools.

The Superior Justice Tribunal said Tuesday the ban was suspended while the court studies an appeal lodged by a Muslim association.

This bylaw has been "provisionally suspended Monday pending a final court decision," said a spokesman for the High Court of Catalonia.

The justification for the provisional suspension was that the ban "could harm people who would be denied access to public places", the court spokesman said.

He also pointed out that the law guarantees the respect "of security and public order" because it requires people entering a public building to identify themselves if an official duty requires.

Lleida became the first city in Spain to impose the ban in December, arguing that the veils were discriminatory against women.

Other towns, including the Catalan capital Barcelona, have taken similar steps but bans have yet to take effect.

The gesture to ban the veils is largely symbolic, because only about 3 percent of Lleida's population is Muslim and only a handful of women actually wear face-covering garments.

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