The highest court in the land considers that Lérida in Cataluña overstepped its authority when it prohibited the use this form of headgear.

The ban, which was imposed in 2010, forbids the use of the burqa, which covers the face, in municipal buildings, such as the Town Hall itself.

The Supreme Court considers that this decision was an infringement of the Right of Religious Freedom, adding that a municipal council does not have the authority to impose such a decision: only a law issued by the national Parliament can make such a ruling and never a municipal council in the form of a local by-law.

What the Supreme Court did not clarify was whether the use of a burqa in public is considered constitutional, but merely limited its judgement to the case of the Lérida by-law.

The judicial finding, the result of an appeal lodged by the Muslim association, Watani por la Libertad y Justicia, annuls the finding of the Regional Supreme Court for Cataluña.

The Lérida Town Council had justified its decision by claiming that the use of the head veil “perturbs citizen tranquility, safety and public order, ” also saying that it was to protect the equal rights of women.

On the subject of women’s rights, the Supreme Court considered that far from eliminating discrimination, it could in fact actually contribute to increasing it, even leading to women ending up “cloistered” at home.

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(News: Lerida, Cataluña, Spain)