MUSLIM INTEGRATION IN BARCELONA AND ANDALUCIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000838

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EUR/FO FOR FARAH PANDITH
EUR/PGI FOR IVAN WEINSTEIN
EUR/PPD FOR ANNE BARBARO AND JEAN DUGGAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016
TAGS: KISL PREL PGOV SP
SUBJECT: MUSLIM INTEGRATION IN BARCELONA AND ANDALUCIA

REF: MADRID 482

MADRID 00000838 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Hugo Llorens, Deputy Chief of Mission, Reasons: 1.4 b &
d


1. (U) Senior Advisor to A/S Fried, Farah Pandith, cleared
this message.


2. (C) SUMMARY: On her second visit to Spain, Senior
Advisor to A/S Fried for Muslim Engagement, Farah Pandith,
traveled to Barcelona, the Andalucian cities of Cordoba and
Sevilla and Madrid from April 19-24, meeting with
representatives of the national and regional governments,
Muslim communities and non-governmental organizations that
work in the integration of new immigrants. These meetings
underscored the diversity of the Muslim community, the
challenges facing two distinct regions of Spain with large
immigrant populations and the desire of both regional and
national governments to demonstrate that they are taking the
counterterrorism measures necessary to prevent radicalization
and extremism. In the continuing evolution of our strategy
for Muslim engagement, Post will use information gleaned from
this visit to adjust our Mission Strategy for Muslim
Engagement to sharpen its focus on promoting moderate Muslim
voices and supporting Spanish efforts to develop its own
Muslim identity. We will do this through the sharing of the
US experience of embracing diversity and our history of
successfully integrating immigrant populations. END SUMMARY.


//DIVERSITY OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY: DESPITE SIMILAR ISSUES,
LITTLE COLLABORATION//


3. (U) Meetings with representatives of Muslim communities
in Barcelona and Cordoba further highlighted the diversity
found among Islamic groups as reported in reftel. In
Barcelona, where Pandith met with the only Muslim elected to
a regional parliament, Mohamed Chaib, as well as
representatives from various NGOs and Muslim associations,
including a breakfast with women leaders, the variety of
countries represented was striking. Although the majority of
Muslim in Spain come from Morocco, 40,000 Pakistani
immigrants currently reside in Barcelona, nearly 80 percent
of whom are male and in-country without wives or family.


4. (U) When asked about issues of primary concern to their
communities, interlocutors in Barcelona spoke firstly of the
need to construct a mosque worthy of the size of their
population (some statistics cite the number of Muslims in
Barcelona at more than 300,000). While Madrid has two large
mosques, Barcelona has none of note. The construction of a
mosque is also seen as a means of allaying concerns regarding
the proliferation of Muslim prayer centers by giving the
community one central location to meet. In 2000, the city of
Barcelona agreed to grant a plot of land for a mosque to be
built and Saudi Arabia offered financing to move the project
forward, but ground has yet to be selected. When asked what
issue beyond the building of a mosque most concerned them,
the lack of transparency as to what is being taught to young
people by imams was cited, with the women, in particular,
expressing concern regarding the lack of training received by
Islamic religious leaders and the absence of Islamic
religious instruction in Catalonia despite the 1992 national
government decree mandating the offering of such classes
whenever the request is received from 10 or more students at
a school.


5. (U) In meeting with members of the Muslim community in
Cordoba and representatives of NGOs who work in the
integration of new immigrants, concern was raised over the
rising number of unaccompanied minors entering Spain. The
number of unaccompanied minors has risen dramatically since a
change in the Spanish immigration law placed immigrant minors
in a protected category under which they cannot be deported,
but rather are placed in the custody of the regional
government, which is responsible for their housing, education
and general welfare. With its proximity to Northern Africa,
the region of Andalucia faces a particular strain on its
educational and social services resources.


6. (U) Meetings with Muslim groups in both Barcelona and
Cordoba also underscored the lack of coordination among the
growing number of Muslim associations which are created
according to country of origin, with Spanish converts
maintaining their own separate organizations. Access to
funding from the national government for social integration,
cultural and educational projects is tied to registration

MADRID 00000838 002.2 OF 002


with the Ministry of Justice and membership in one of the two
national umbrella organizations that make up the Islamic
Commission. However, additional funding is increasingly
available at the regional level from the autonomous community
governments. As a result, the two nationally recognized
Islamic organizations, FEERI and UCIDE, have begun to focus
on strengthening their local branches, supporting the
mushrooming of regional associations. It is difficult to
determine the extent to which these regional groups are
representative of the local Muslim community.


7. (C) COMMENT: Little collaboration seems to exist between
Moroccan, Pakistani and Saharan African communities. Should
these Muslim communities decide to develop stronger ties with
each other and develop a unified front, there could obtain
significant political weight on issues of concern to them.
It should also be noted that such groups as the Junta
Islamica and the Muslim Association of Cordoba, which include
a significant number of Spanish converts, have access to the
media at both the national and regional levels that is
disproportionate to their influence among Muslim populations
in Spain. In general, there appears to be little
collaboration between organizations of immigrant Muslims and
Spanish converts. While Spanish converts could serve as
bridges between the newly arrived Muslim immigrants and the
larger Spanish population in developing a Spanish Muslim
identity, they do not yet serve this role. END COMMENT.

//THE OFFICAL RESPONSE: ALL IS UNDER CONTROL//


8. (U) Although significant powers have been devolved to
the regional autonomous communities from the national
government, this process has not been uniform. Catalonia, for
example, has a regional police force, while Andalucia does
not. Social welfare issues, such as the integration of new
immigrants, however, are the responsibility of the regional
government in both cases.


9. (C) In Barcelona, Pandith met with the Chief Inspector
of the Catalan police force. In Sevilla, she met with the
deputy to the national government,s representative to the
Andalucian government, who is responsible for police and
security issues in the region. The interlocutors in both
meetings firmly stated, that while ever vigilant to the
possibility of Islamic radicalization, particularly with
recent calls by Al-Qaida followers to recapture
&Al-Andalus8, they felt that the required measures were
being taken.


10. (C) Immigration officers in both cities also expressed
satisfaction with the development of systems to ensure the
efficient distribution of educational and health services to
all residents, regardless of immigration status. Their
efforts are concentrated on making immigrants aware of their
rights and how to access the system. Once immigrants enter
the system, the governments are confident in their ability to
meet the needs of these communities. Immigration officials in
Barcelona emphasized city planning as a means of integrating
Muslim communities in a way that makes them more comfortable
within the overall population and at the same time leaves the
majority Catalan population more at ease with the new
immigrants. The government of Andalucia has implemented a
proactive public information campaign throughout the media
and public schools to promote the benefits of diversity and
respect for cultural differences.


11. (U) At the conclusion of her visit to Spain, Pandith
briefed the DCM on the results of her visit and met with the
Mission,s Muslim Engagement Working Group to share the
insights gathered from her travels to Barcelona and
Andalucia. In the continuing refinement of its approach to
Muslim engagement, Post will adjust its Mission Strategy to
sharpen the focus on promoting moderate Muslim voices and
supporting Spanish efforts to develop its own Muslim identity
through the sharing of the US experience of embracing
diversity and our history of successfully integrating
immigrant populations.
Aguirre