To ban or not to ban? Some thoughts on Barcelona's decision to deny access to public buildings to women covering their face.
The whole affair started by a short, dry statement from the Barcelona municipal government issued on the 14 th of June which announced in no uncertain terms that the city of Barcelona was going “to forbid the use of the burqa, niqab and any other item which hinders personal identification in any of the city's public installations” (these include civic centres, libraries, markets and nurseries, to name but a few). We then learned that the city administration had gone to great lengths to ensure that all sensitivities were taken into account as the city's commission on immigration policy had discussed a legal opinion, as to the extent and the legality of such a ban. According to news reports revealing the extent and ambition of the vision behind the ban, Barcelona’s mayor and member of the Partit dels Socialistes del Catalunya (PSC), presiding over a coalition municipal administration with the Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds , (ICV), a Green Left party as it defines itself, “r...