Spanish Roma Deprived of a Place to Practice their Religion

22 July 2005

According to a January 3, 2005 report by the non-governmental organisation Human Rights Without Frontiers Int. (HRWF), the Spanish Romani congregation of the Filadelfia Evangelical Church in the Caño Roto area of Madrid have been waiting for a year since the demolition of their church for a new site on which to build their church. Local authorities reportedly demolished their old church on January 8, 2004, in order to clear the land for urban development projects. At the time, HRWF reports, the authorities promised to provide the church with new property within sixty days. HRWF and religious organisations in Spain highlighted the intersectional discrimination aspect of the case, noting discrimination on the basis of both ethnicity and religion, in the predominantly Catholic Spain.

(HRWF)