The Spanish Government has challenged the agreement to prevent Muslims from praying in the sports halls of Jumilla

The Spanish Government has submitted a request to the City Council of Jumilla (Murcia) to annul the agreement on the use ofmunicipal sports facilities, which prevents the use of these facilities for the actions of the Muslim community in the country, which it considers to be contrary to religious freedom.

Spanish Government sources have explained that, according to the request submitted by the Government delegate, the regulations allow the use of the sports centre for socio-cultural activities, so that "the objective reasons given are not based ".

For the Spanish Government, "arbitrarily reduced" a celebration which had long been held in violation of the constitutional principles of religious freedom, equality and religious neutrality of the Administration.

It further considers that the decision taken violates the general use which is equally common to all citizens, and that power has been diverted by the exercise of municipal authority for ideological purposes outside the general interest, as stated in the letter.

"There is no doubt that the agreement diverts power and that municipal power is used to prevent Muslim religious celebrations in an inadequate, diverted manner, although apparently it regulates the use of municipal sports facilities; however, under this formal aspect, the violationof the fundamental right to religious freedom is clearly concealed, "the request states.

The Minister for the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, has defended the measure taken by the Government: "We defend the Constitution, rights and religious freedom against the extreme decisions of the PPVox. We will stop ultra measures, as we did in Castilla y León in the face of obstacles to abortion or censorship in Murcia," said Bolaños.

The Government considers that the Municipal Corporation does not intend to limit the use of sports facilities to activities in the field of sport, but rather to exclude religious festivals held there until now.

The Government argues that the exclusion of religious acts other than those of the City Council "without attesting to the disturbance of public order and conflict of use" constitutes an unjustified restriction on the collective use of worship, and points out thatthe restriction of fundamental rights must be sufficiently reasoned on the basis of objective criteria and subject to proportionality control, as established by the Constitutional Court.

The letter, signed by the Delegate of the Government of the Region of Murcia, María Dolores Guevara, states that "the real motivation of the decision of the City of Jumilla does not conform to technical or organizational criteria; it deviates from the legal criteria for the management of the use of public goods and also responds to an ideological objective of religious exclusion expressly recognized by its promoters".

The reasons for the agreement adopted by the plenary of the Jumilla City Council on 28 July 2025, according to the Spanish Government, violate the principle of religious neutrality of the Administration, which must ensure the fair use of public spaces, without facilitating or hindering the exercise of rights under religious recognition.

It therefore requests the Local Corporation to revokethe decision to amend the regulations governing the use and operation of municipal sports facilities , which excludes religious acts outside the Corporation as contrary to the legal system.