page_title: Islam in Spain
section_title: Worship places
hierarchical_section_title: Islam in Spain / Relations between Islam and the State / Implementation of the Cooperation Agreement / Worship places
caption_attribution_description: English: The Y-axis shows the number of cases of social opposition to Mosques. The events with a duration of more than one year were counted for each year.
context_page_description: Islam was a widespread religion on the Iberian Peninsula, beginning with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania and ending with its prohibition by the modern Spanish state in the mid-16th century and the expulsion of the Moriscos in the early 17th century, an ethnic and religious minority of around 500,000 people. Although a significant proportion of Moriscos returned to Spain or avoided expulsion through various means, the practice of Islam had faded into obscurity by the 19th century.
  Nevertheless, throughout modern history there has always been a constant presence of Muslims in Spain, many of whom were former slaves freed in the early 18th century. Furthermore, Spain's proximity to North Africa and its small land border with the Kingdom of Morocco made the Muslim presence in Spain possible. Moroccan Muslims played a significant role during Spain's Civil War, fighting on the Nationalist side, including a Lieutenant General named Mohamed Meziane, a close friend of General Francisco Franco, who later became Captain General of Ceuta, Galicia and governor of the Canary Islands during his post-war career.
  Moroccans were not required to have a visa in order to enter Spain until 1985.
context_section_description: The Cooperation Agreement identifies as Islamic worship places the mosques and cemeteries. In Spain, there are 13 big mosques in the cities of Madrid (2), Valencia (1), Córdoba (2), Granada (1), Ceuta (2), Melilla (2), Fuengirola (1), Marbella (1) and Málaga (1). [See: List of Mosques in Spain]. However, in practice, most common places of worship are small oratories established in commercial premises, garages, and private apartments. The religious communities are mostly renting these establishments, just a minority are private property. A study from 2009 about the religious situation in Castile-La Mancha identified 46 religious communities of which only 4 had a private property.  At the autonomic level, the Community of Madrid signed an agreement with the UCIDE in 1998, which referred in the third clause to the promotion of transfer of land to construct mosques and worship places in Madrid. In Catalonia, on the other side, a law was adopted in 2009 to deal with the granting of licenses by municipal councils. Especially in Catalonia, there have been many cases of social opposition to mosques. In a study conducted by Avi Stor 41 cases were reported in Catalonia between 1990 and 2013, the total cases in Spain was 74 from 1985 to 2013.
caption: Social Opposition to Mosques in Spain 1985- 2013
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