Pray in the canalization of the Segre river, in Lleida, next to the Príncip de Viana bridge. The Ibn Hazm Muslim community, the largest in the city, has permission from the Lleida City Council to pray this Friday and the next next to the river, given the impossibility of doing so in the covered venue of Fira de Lleida due to the celebration, next Municipalia fair week.
Two weeks ago, during the Sant Miquel fair, without municipal permission, about 800 Muslims occupied that space. They prayed under the bridge and the nearest space. The Urban Police drew up a report. It is the group that for many years has prayed in the Palau de Vidre, which is now being renovated.
“We are happy, under the bridge was one of the three sites we had requested for these weeks,” Abdellatif Laatabi, spokesperson for the Ibn Hazn community, said this Thursday. His other options were the equestrian area or its parking lot.
Deputy Mayor Carlos Enjuanes explained this Thursday that the City Council had urged those responsible for the community to look for an alternative solution to the Fira venue during these days. He said that, given the impossibility of finding another place, the City Council has opted for this temporary authorization to avoid unauthorized concentrations and in this way supervise and guarantee the proper functioning of the activity in aspects such as mobility and security, which will be ensured by the Urban Police. .
Last October 2, at the assembly of the city’s religions, the deputy mayor announced that the City Council will call a public competition for the granting of a municipal plot that can house a center of worship with the intention of awarding it at the beginning of the next year. This community or any other community in the city can apply for this contest.
Enjuanes insisted that these lands will be a medium or long-term solution and that in the short term they worked week by week based on the requirements formulated by the Ibn Hazm community, which is the one that, according to the council, has to make the proposals for the places they consider suitable to pray on Fridays.
At the assembly, Abdellatif Laatabi showed the group’s willingness to work with the Paeria to find solutions for agreed spaces.
