Spain: Islamic Moral Police in action

From El Periódico, with thanks to Esther:

Sources in the interior ministry involved in anti-terrorism say that the case of the alleged abduction and trial of a woman in Reus by Muslim fundamentalists is the most violent expression of the an increasingly disturbing phenomenon: fundamentalist groups of people who, with support of ultra-conservative mosques, assume the role of judge and police of Islamic morals and exert enormous social pressure on the Muslims in these towns.

The phenomenon, which for years has been manifesting itself in countries like France and the Netherlands [ed: I’m not sure where they got that last one from], has been detected in rural municipalities in the Camp de Tarragona area, as well as in villages in Gironès and Segarra.

This always happens in towns where the mosque is run by followers of Salafism, an ultra-conservative denomination, which believes in following the lifestyle of the Salaf (the first followers of Mohammed).

These people use their status in the community to shield their community and create a separate country, separated from the Catalan environment, which they consider ungodly. These mosques call on the faithful not to socialize with the Catalans, not to turn to their institutions (police, judges or associations), to only purchase halal products in Muslim shops, and not to use banks, since they charge interest. In addition they pressure parents not to allow their daughters to go to gym class or to the pool, and to take them out of school once they start menstruating.

More in Speroforum.

Well, this doesn’t surprise me. There are two relevant things, by the way:

1. this is the 1st time that Spanish MSM recognises this fact. Specially considering that El Periódico is both leftist (“Alliance of Civilizations“) and Catalan nationalist (They have favoured non-Hispanic immigration to make newcomers speak Catalan rather than Spanish).
2. it’s still an unreported and basically ignored fact. Of course, Catalonia has the most important group of Salafists (or ultra-traditionalist Muslims, in general) in Spain, so it’s rather logical that the first information on this phenomenon comes from there. But it’s not the only part of Spain where Muslims with ultra-traditionalist views live. I would like to hear from other similar groups from Madrid, Valencia, Andalucia (specially Granada), Basque Country, etc.