The far-right party Vox has reignited controversy in Orihuela with a proposal to bar women wearing burkas or niqabs from entering municipal buildings.
Vox councillors will take the motion to next Thursday’s full council meeting, calling for an internal regulation that would deny access to anyone whose face is “totally or partially concealed.” Similar initiatives have already been raised in the Congress of Deputies and in councils such as Alicante and Sant Joan.
Led locally by Manuel Mestre — whose party governs Orihuela alongside the People’s Party — Vox insists the measure is about security, not religion. The motion argues that garments “not rooted in Spain,” including the Islamic full veil, prevent visual identification and interfere with public administration, regardless of the wearer’s cultural or religious motivation.
Under the proposed rules, anyone wearing clothing that “substantially impedes facial identification” would be refused entry to municipal offices. The ban would apply across the board, whatever the reason for wearing the garment — religious or otherwise — with only limited exceptions for certified medical reasons, public health needs or occupational safety requirements.
Vox stresses the proposal applies strictly to municipal buildings where legal procedures are carried out, personal data is handled and public employees and users must be protected. Visual identification, the party claims, is essential to prevent impersonation, guarantee security and ensure public services function normally.
The motion also underlines that the City Council has no intention — or legal power — to impose dress codes in public streets, limiting the ban to administrative premises only.
Critics, however, see the initiative as yet another flashpoint in Vox’s increasingly hard-line local agenda. It follows a string of highly divisive proposals, including calls for the expulsion of undocumented migrants, symbolic gestures promoting “the return of patriarchy” around Father’s Day, and opposition to the Islamic Feast of the Lamb.
With emotions already running high, the burka ban debate looks set to turn Orihuela’s council chamber into the latest battleground of Spain’s ongoing culture wars.
