The Religious Affairs Office

[INTERVIEW AUTHORSHIP: BCN INTERCULTURAL ACTION]

This interview was conducted as part of the activity Barxiluna برشلونة | Cemeteries, organised by Espai Avinyó and the Office of Religious Affairs (OAR) and framed within the series of activities: Barxiluna برشلونة :(Dis)memory of the Islamic past and present.

With the collaboration of Cementiris de Barcelona, we visited the Islamic section of the Collserola cemetery, followed by a discussion on the management of Muslim burials in Catalonia and the Spanish State. An activity that allowed us to position the right to die according to one’s beliefs and to listen to the current demands of the community.

In Barcelona, the Collserola cemetery has several plots designated for the burial of Muslims. The Islamic burial site in the Collserola cemetery was created in 1997 as a public response to the demands of various entities representing Barcelona’s Muslim community, who questioned the need to repatriate the bodies of the deceased. So, the city became the first place in Catalonia to have this kind of public facility. For several years now, work has been under way in collaboration with spokespersons from the community to improve the Islamic section and always maintain consistency with the principles of Muslim burials. With this aim in mind, the site has twice been expanded, first in 2017 and again in 2021. While the management of the first site was left in the hands of some Muslim entities in the city, the expansions are publicly managed.

Maysoun Douas leads the association Entierro Digno for the defence of the right to burial for Muslim citizens. She was one of the participants in the activity organised by Espai Avinyó and the Religious Affairs Office: Cemeteries. We discuss with her how municipal management of cemeteries in Spain relates to Islamic sites and the right to die with dignity.

• In December, you took part in the activity organised by Espai Avinyó and the Religious Affairs Office, a dialogue on the right to die according to one’s beliefs and the challenges of municipal cemetery management in the city among Muslim communities and institutions. What did you think?

I found it an innovative activity, as it is rare to create a participatory space for people to learn about the funeral or cemetery services offered by local public administrations. In this sense, I applaud the initiative because I believe it is an act of respect and engagement with citizens.

I feel the conversation will not end there; many topics that will continue to develop were opened up. I think it is an exercise that provides a lesson in best practices to other municipalities at national level, an example of coexistence, of attention to the specific services within our diverse society, of transparency regarding how certain resources are being managed, as well as being present in people’s lives.

• In the activity, the discussion covered the management models used so far (private and public), mistakes made by the administration initially in not respecting Muslim rites, barriers to access (financial) and the need to guarantee ritual spaces for the treatment of bodies, the role being played by repatriation insurances, among others. In this sense, what issues should it address or avoid if we think of a management model that considers all these dimensions and tries to find a balance between personal, family and community needs? Who should lead this process?

There are numerous faith-based support organisations working with Muslim individuals who, at some point, will need to handle someone’s death, and not knowing the procedures creates a support gap in the work they are undertaking. This is why I believe that the leadership should move away from being based on religion and advocate for it to be a civil right. It is not that I want to displace religious organisations, but not all Muslims are part of these entities.

Religious organisations can be consulted on matters related to the rituals of preparing the bodies. With this purely religious dynamic, we will see how to accommodate it within the public service from the standpoint of respect and consideration for diversity. I think this is the status that should be granted to religious entities.

I also think there is a great deal of misinformation. For example, the rooms in funeral homes are not widely used by the Muslim population, mainly because they are unaware of these services. I think this should be discussed in the place where the body is being prepared because otherwise, the alternatives are to do it at home or in mosques, or the family ends up isolated because they cannot receive all condolences. I think public spaces should consider these situations just as they do for the rest of citizens.

• What are the policies regarding the management of cemeteries and the right to a dignified death in Madrid?

Currently, most services are private. When an individual contacts the City Council to request burial services for a Muslim, the initial response is that no services are available for Muslims, and this is because of the lack of staff trained in the necessary procedures: collecting the body, treating and preparing it, and conducting the burial because the burial ground has not been made suitable for these services. Thus, the preparation of Muslim bodies is undertaken by private companies.

This happens with all the financial burden it places on families. Since this need is not recognised, there is no information for Madrid’s Muslim community regarding their rights, leaving them in the hands of two or three individuals who manage or act as liaisons for the funeral homes and cemeteries. It creates an acute sense of alienation because, at such a time, the family is unlikely to consider whether they are being overcharged or if the service is complete or has missing elements. The degree of vulnerability generated at this moment is immense. Many families are deeply grieved and significantly traumatised by this process, and they also lack a place to file complaints.

They believe they have done something exceptional, outside the scope of legal and standard services, unaware that a consumer office can assist them. The same situation in Madrid is happening in Castella-La Manxa, Extremadura, Galicia and Asturias. I do not understand why religious entities do not publish anywhere the steps to be followed when someone dies. It is deeply frustrating and very distressing.

Some mosques have a solidarity fund. It is an annual contribution from families that, in theory, covers death expenses. However, they do not explain what services are included or if they are subject to certain conditions. Actually, these funds cannot cover all deaths, and if two repatriations happen suddenly, the funds are depleted, and even if one has been accepted, they likely will not be helped because these funds have been used up.

Despite the belief that mosques could serve as this loudspeaker, they do not fulfil that role. I do not know why, but it is not working. The challenge is identifying the communication channels to share this information with them. So, they remove barriers, inequalities and discrimination at such a sensitive time.

• You said Madrid, Extremadura, Castella-La Manxa and Galicia are making these same mistakes. What are they doing in other places?

Mostly, they make the same mistakes. In France, they have cemeteries for the Muslim population, but they do not have cemetery licences. They are exceptions that have emerged due to circumstances, thus finding themselves in a grey area. It is the same in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy because these are cemeteries with limited access and unfavourable conditions. People tend to repatriate since part of the Maghreb population has a strong identity and sense of belonging to their homeland and not to where they are living and building their lives. And I fear that the problem in some autonomous communities is just the tip of the iceberg of a neglected right in the European context.

• Is there a political will to change this?

I think there is an opportunity because this issue should not divide us, as we are not discussing something frivolous. Death comes to us all, and we all want to die in a dignified manner. Certainly, some parties are explicitly opposed, but their opposition stems from anything that does not align with their ideological identity. Beyond their ideology, it represents a lack of tact, sensitivity, awareness and humanity.

However, I do not believe there has been political negligence. The political will we face in Madrid is not so much about the reluctance to provide this service but rather that the channels through which they want to offer it are mired.

Meanwhile, civil rights remain unfulfilled. I understand that the public administration requires a representative who can outline the necessary actions to avoid harmful mistakes for the administration and citizens. All these concerns are valid, but the ultimate responsibility rests with the public administration.

• What happens in other autonomous communities?

In Castella-La Manxa, I am aware that several municipalities are willing to accommodate burial spaces for the Muslim population, but what is lacking is the Muslim community’s claim to these spaces, their presence to affirm they will use these burial units so that it is not a wasted investment or effort.

One of the many factors contributing to this situation is that, firstly, the Muslim population is unaware of the existence of this right. Not all public administrations know that the Law on Religious Freedom encompasses this right. Considerable educational efforts are required on both sides to understand that action needs to be taken, followed by the initiation of this bureaucratic, technical and participatory path, with all its challenges and setbacks.

In a few years, we will see an increasing number of municipalities joining this initiative, but it heavily depends on how Muslim citizens engage and how it is supported by associations or civil society bodies that legitimise, empower and assist them in this claim.

• What have been the reasons given to explain the absence of Islamic facilities in cities?

Due to a lack of knowledge, many questions arise during discussions with public officials: is it legal? Who is requesting it? If we do it, what kind of opposition will we face? How will we manage it? Regardless of whether there is a Muslim population claiming this right, it is the administration’s responsibility to ensure it.

• From where does the need arise to create an association like d’Entierro Digno [Dignified Burial]? Who are its members? Is it national or regional? What does it advocate?

The association began to take shape in September 2023, emerging from the lack of a cemetery in Madrid. When we started conversing with various representatives of the Muslim population in the Community of Madrid, we realised not everyone was aware that there was no alternative within the autonomous community and that it was necessary to put pressure on Madrid City Council to fulfil one of the proposals that had been presented to the Full Meeting months earlier. The proposal stated that land was available for the project, yet it was at a standstill. Thus, we noticed that no one was applying pressure.

As we pursued this path, other municipalities emerged, highlighting their lack of cemeteries. We realised that the same efforts of raising awareness, mobilisation, identifying communication channels with public administration and bureaucratic processes needed to advocate and make it possible were entire replicable in the rest of the country. Therefore, in September, we decided to establish an association to discuss these issues.

• What are the objectives?

Claim these burial spaces in municipalities where there are Muslim citizens, support groups wishing to request this right and provide them with advice. Seek out information and stay up to date on everything related to this right to be a reference point and a source of verified and thorough information on what happens when we need to be buried.

The association has a board of directors, with nine people: six are women and three are men. Not all of us are Muslim. And among the Muslims, not all are Sunni. We have tried to create a representation of Muslim citizens that exists in Spain: there are migrants, nationals, converts, non-Muslims, people from Madrid and those from outside Madrid.

• From the association Entierro Digno in Madrid, you conducted a study nationwide. What did the study entail? What dynamics did you identify?

We have conducted various studies, but the one I can discuss with you is the study concerning the cemeteries available across the country and their distribution. We contacted municipalities to enquire whether they had cemeteries, the condition of these cemeteries and the access to burial, as some cemeteries only allow access to registered residents. We later discovered that, of the approximately 30 cemeteries we have, only 27 are operational.

And this operational status is in inverted commas, not only due to the residency registration requirement. For example, a month ago, the Cordoba cemetery was flooded, and as a result, there was not a single cemetery available for burials throughout Andalusia. If you were not registered as a resident, you could not be buried in Andalusia. We encountered several cases where individuals died while the cemetery was flooded, and the only alternative offered to them was to go to Ceuta or Melilla. Currently, the discussions we have with the other cities aim to understand their specific situations. We know various cities, including some in Madrid, Toledo, Alicante and Murcia, where mobilisation efforts are beginning.

• Regarding the management of cemeteries and the implementation processes, what do you consider good practices, and in which Spanish cities are they observed?

I do not think we have enough models to establish a pattern. There are different models: in Burgos, for example, the local Muslim population reached an agreement directly with the City Council without going through the Full Meeting and simply provided guidelines to the staff conducting the burials. The process was swift and flexible.

In Valladolid, they began to implement it, but the process encountered issues and ended up without a cemetery. In Vitoria and Barcelona, excellent work has also been done, learning from past mistakes.

Considering that there are 8,100 municipalities in Spain and that there is a generally a high Muslim population in both the major cities but also in rural areas due to their connection with agricultural tasks, I think we still have much progress to make. This means that for a long time we will need to recognise and learn from mistakes, and rectify them. This is part of the educational effort we all need to undertake, provided there is a genuine willingness to move forward.

• Are the association’s objectives necessarily linked with the demands of the Muslim communities?

Drafting the bye-laws was a very participatory process because we created a specific group and consulted with various stakeholders; we did not focus solely on talking with Muslim or religious communities. They were part of the process but not the sole source of information or feedback we used to create the bye-laws. We based our work on the personal experiences of the entire movement and how they envisioned it.

We also drew on the experiences of individuals who are not Muslim but have Muslim family members and who also wish to engage with this right and make it a reality. I think our association is more focused on the individual Muslims and their civil rights rather than on Muslim communities. Mosques play a role that we all recognise and value, but I think it is necessary to delve even deeper and listen to families and individuals.