Barcelona bans burqahs

http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief-cover/273201-barcelona-bans-burqa-public-places

Barcelona has recently banned the wearing of the Islamic headscarf, the burqah, in public places. On June 14, the mayor of Barcelona issued the ban of burqahs and niqab, a more extreme covering in public buildings. This ban was extremely abrupt and the council's reasoning behind the measure is to make Barcelonans more safe. The council had the former policy of assimilation rather than exclusion towards immigrants, so the move to ban Muslim garb seems rash. Some speculate that the move may be a political ploy for Hereu, who has a poor public image and wants to be seen as a strong leader for fear he may soon be replaced. The ban prohibits the wearing of the cover in libraries, markets and sport centers. Lleida was the first in Spain to ban the traditional Islamic cover, with Barcelona following closely behind. The official stance of El Periodico is supportive of Hereu's move, yet thinks it may be counterproductive and possibly invoke anger into the Muslim community in Barcelona. Turkey and Egypt have banned the wearing of the burqa and recently Belgium has banned it as well. I speculate that if the wearing of the burqa ever becomes an issue in the United States, a bill banning it will never pass due to the wide range of civil liberties and freedoms of religion that Americans enjoy. However, this is not taking into account the large numbers of uninformed and racially bigoted people living in America. One would think that with such a close proximity to North Africa, Spain would be more accepting to traditional Islamic dress, so maybe the ban really is a political move for Hereu. I have no problems accepting another's culture or religion, as long as it is not promoting throwing acid on the faces of girls who aspire to attend school, so when I see an article like this one I am torn. Clearly I would like to see Islamic women get more freedoms, some countries like Saudi Arabia don't let women leave the country without telling their husbands, won't let women be divorced without their husband's consent, and do not let women attain drivers licenses. The other side of the issue is respecting the religion of a culture very different from my own which I can never fully understand since I was not raised in that faith. What the future holds for the burqa and the niqab, I can only guess, but I would hate to see Muslim extremist groups committing terrorist acts in the name of keeping the burqa.