Vox Vows to Reverse ‘Islamization of Spain’ After Number of Mosques Nearly Doubles Since 2011

Spain’s nationalist Vox party has pledged to reverse what it calls the “Islamization” of the country after new government data revealed that the number of mosques has almost doubled in just over a decade.

According to figures published by the Observatory of Religious Pluralism, an agency under the Ministry of the Presidency, Spain now has 1,945 Muslim places of worship — a rise of 95 percent since 2011.

These are spread across 1,045 municipalities, which The Objective writes is an indication that mosques are no longer confined to major cities but have also become established in small towns and rural areas as Islam becomes more prominent in Spanish society.

Nearly 60 percent of all mosques are located in four autonomous communities: Catalonia, Andalusia, the Valencian Community, and Madrid. Catalonia tops the list with 371 mosques, followed by Andalusia with 322, Valencia with 243, and Madrid with 143. In Andalusia, the distribution is more even, with Almería leading at 81 Muslim places of worship. At the opposite end of the scale, Cantabria has only six mosques, the fewest of any region.

Some, of course, are architectural landmarks that remain from historic caliphates and Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula. Most, however, are not and cater to the increasing Muslim demographic residing in the country.

The report notes that the increase is not solely due to new immigration but also to the consolidation of long-established Muslim communities, many of whose members are now Spanish citizens. The Observatory attributes this to both demographic change and the expansion of organizational and cultural structures within these communities.

Vox’s secretary general, Ignacio Garriga, accused both mainstream parties and regional separatists of fostering policies that he claims have “led to the Islamization of Spain.” In a post on social media, Garriga wrote: “The suicidal migration policy of the two-party system and separatism has led to the Islamization of Spain and turned Catalonia into a Mecca for European jihadism. We will reverse it to guarantee our security and ensure the historical continuity of our nation.”

Garriga’s statement reflects a broader Vox narrative that links rising immigration to insecurity and cultural decline. The party has repeatedly called for tighter border controls, the closure of “radical mosques,” and the prioritization of Spanish cultural identity.

The figures come at a time when Spain continues to see unprecedented numbers of illegal migrants arriving from across the Mediterranean, many of whom arrive on the Canary Islands archipelago to then be transferred to the Spanish mainland.

Meanwhile, churches continue to be targeted, not just in Spain but across wider Western Europe. In August, a 21-year-old Moroccan national was arrested after he broke into and set fire to the historic Church of Santiago Apóstol in El Pozuelo, Granada.

That same month, a church in Mainz, Germany, was vandalized, and French clergymen have reported an uptick in attacks and thefts in their places of worship.

In May, a group of young men stormed the Montfavet church in Avignon, shouting, “Allahu Akbar” and threatening to burn the church down — an act of intimidation that forced police to guard the building during Sunday morning Mass.

“They didn’t insult me directly, but they shouted things like, ‘Jesus, we’re f***ing you,’” Fr. Laurent Milan told local media. “They were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and told us several times, ‘We’re going to come back and burn your church.’”

It is unclear how Vox would seek to reverse the trend. Other nationalist parties, including Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands, have campaigned on mosque bans previously, but have ultimately ended up dropping proposals deemed unpalatable by prospective coalition partners.

In 2023, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson called for Swedish authorities to be handed the power to requisition and demolish mosques that are proven to be used to promote messages incompatible with Western values, and said Sweden should impose a ban on the construction of new mosques.

“It is not a right to come to our country and build monuments to a foreign and imperialist ideology,” Åkesson told his party’s members.

“In the long term, we need to start confiscating and demolishing mosque buildings where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, homophobic, or anti-Semitic propaganda or general misinformation about Swedish society is spread.

“Minarets, domes, crescents, or other attributes that serve as Islamic monuments in the cityscape should be completely removed,” he added.

In Sweden, the number of mosques has increased by nearly 4,200 percent in just 25 years.