The opening of an Islamic centre in la calle Ocho de Diciembre in La Murada has generated a great deal of alarm in this small oriolana hamlet, with residents handing in a petition to the Orihuela City Council 4 months ago, of over a thousand signatures, asking for clarification of the activity being carried out in the building.
The residents also asked for confirmation that the building had been granted a mandatory opening license, questions that, four months later, have still not been clarified by the Consistory.
However the councillor for Social Welfare, Sabina Galindo, said that the centre is being used as an Integrated Social Educational Centre for Muslim children, but residents refute this, claiming that they have photographic evidence that adults are using it to pray, with the continuous movement of people, even at night, so that “it is clear that it is more than a social and educational centre as advised by the councillor,” said a spokesman for the Neighborhood Association.
Villagers say that they are “concerned and bewildered” at “the secrecy with which the works were carried out until the early hours of the morning,” and, they demand to know what activity is carried out in their community.
They say that they do not rule out demonstrations, if the mayor of Orihuela, Emilio Bascuñana, continues to ignore their requests for information.
Local people say that they have nothing against the Muslim religion and that their interest is only to clarify “the activity that is being carried out in a residential area and to confirm that the appropriate permissions have been granted”.
