The far-right mayor of a town in the Catalonia region in Spain received a fine for her Islamophobic remarks insulting Muslims.
Mayor of Ripoll, Silvia Orriols, who’s known for her anti-Muslim views and is the founder of the anti-immigrant Catalan separatist party Alianca Catalana, received a 10,000 euro fine ($11,160) for her racist remarks on a broadcast on 8TV.
She claimed that Muslims living in Catalonia “pose a threat to the Catalan identity.”
In 2023, after her victory in Ripoll, she declared that the “reconquest of Catalonia” began in her town, located near the border of France.
In August 2023, Orriols urged the Catalan government to ban ‘burkinis’ in municipal swimming pools. The same month, she also hosted an event in Barcelona to further her plan to expand across Catalonia, according to El Pais.
In January, she called for the removal of halal meat from public schools.
By October, the five local opposition parties signed a joint statement saying they were “very worried about the increase in tension and anger within the population,” and by the “discourse of hate that could lead to a situation of violence and discrimination.”
While Orriols remains something of a fringe figure, her success, as well as the ability of her former party FNC to govern in another town, is raising alarm bells about the future of Catalan separatism.
