800 mosques and counting

Madrid, January 24th, 2007.

The Islamic re-conquest has begun. Muslims all over Spain offer up their prayers five times a day at more than 800 mosques, many of them technically illegal (that is, without official permission to operate as places of worship).

In Madrid, although most practising Muslims are connected to one of the two major mosques, there are in fact 230 spread over the Madrid region. The Muslim population in many Madrid suburbs is increasing rapidly, and most of them tend to congregate at prayer centres which reflect their nationality of origin (Moroccan, Algerian, Pakistani, etc.).

An investigation carried out by ABC newspaper calculates that there are more than 800 mosques or prayer centres in Spain, to cater for a Muslim population nearing 1.5 million. These figures are very different to the official statistics put out by the government, which estimates the number of Muslims in Spain at 900,000. However, their figures are almost certainly out of date, as the situation changes by several thousand every month. The government's Department of Religious Affairs has only registered 360 Islamic groups, and 427 buildings for use in Muslim worship. Almost half are therefore unregistered.

Many of them are known as 'garage mosques', and are simply ground-floor premises or small flats, about which the authorities know little or nothing. Mansur Escudero, Head of the Islamic Board in Spain, regrets the lack of official information about these mosques and prayer centres, but wishes the government would finance them. However, government policy is not to subsidise activities directly related to worship, though there is a certain ambiguity in their funding of 'cultural and social' activities organised by religious groups.

There are eleven large mosques in Spain at present, three in Málaga, two in Ceuta, two in Melilla, one in Valencia, two in Madrid and one in Granada. At least seven of them have received financial assistance from Saudi Arabia. Others have received assistance from Syria, or the United Arab Emirates. The greatest concentration of Muslims is found in Andalusia, with almost half a million living in the region. The four largest mosques in the area were built with money from the United Arab Emirates. The best-known is the one in Granada, the first built there since the Moors were expelled in 1492, and the fastest-growing area in terms of Muslim immigration is Almería, with the boom caused by the need for seasonal strawberry workers. Depending on the time of year, there can be up to 100,000 North Africans living there.

Source: ABC Editing: ACPress.net


'It's the worst ever drought in Spain'

Madrid, January 31st, 2007

Environment Minister, Cristina Narbona, says the drought currently being suffered by Spain and now into its third year, is the worst ever known in the country, particularly in the central river basins of the Segura and Júcar, and in the upper reaches of Spain's longest two rivers, the Ebro and Tagus.

Spain has long been popular with holiday-makers seeking sun and dry weather, but residents are suffering the effects of an increasingly acute shortage of water. The government is considering what measures need to be taken to ensure a continuing supply. Thus far, Narbona says that no Spanish city has lacked water, but adds that regional authorities need help in keeping the water supply going. She also claims that 2006 saw a "more efficient" use of energy across Spain.

Whatever measures are taken, though, it is obvious that the rain in Spain is clearly not falling on the plain.

Source: El Pais. Editing: ACPress.net