23 June 2012
In a survey conducted by the Ministry of Interior in 2010, 40% of Muslims rejected the ban on the niqab or the burqa in public spaces. The survey also revealed that the number of Muslims that are “very observant” has continued to grow in the last five years and only 40% of respondents were against “the existence of Islamic courts in non-Muslim countries.”The Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies (IEEE) has recently released an analysis[1] of these movements in Spain. “They seek the establishment of a universal caliphate, the placement on a purely religious activity and an ultraconservative morality; and these circumstances make the integration of the faithful into our society more than difficult,” said Oscar Perez Ventura, an analyst of Jihadist terrorism and radical Islamic movements and co-author of the IEE document.
[1] http://www.ieee.es/Galerias/fichero/docs_marco/2012/DIEEEM01-2012_MovimientosIslamistasenEspana.docx.pdf The abstract in English may be found in the document.
