Spain Expels Moroccan Imams Over National Security Concerns

Yahya Benaouda, 51, from the Talayuela mosque in Cáceres, was the first imam expelled in 2022. He is accused of spreading Salafism in his Muslim community of around 7,000 believers, according to the file provided by the Spanish intelligence services and on which the National Court based its order for his expulsion. The Salafist would also have "affinities" with the Moroccan movement Justice and Charity (Al Adl Wal Ihssane), as well as with the Muslim Brotherhood, recalls Diario de León.

Benaouda has disseminated a "rigorous and radical interpretation of Islam that is not conducive to integration into Western society and that promotes the segregation and discrimination of women" since he "advocates the application of sharia above the Spanish legal system," it reads in his file.

The two other expelled imams are Mohamed Said Badaoui from the Reus mosque (Tarragona) and Amarouch Azbi from the Vilanova i la Geltrú mosque (Barcelona). The two imams denounced having been victims of "political repression through the immigration law". They had the support of ERC, CUP, Junts and Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem. Catalonia remains "the most important hotbed of radicalization" in Spain. Most of the jihadists were arrested in this autonomous community.

The report titled "Terrorism Balance in Spain 2022" and published in the July issue of the Notebooks of the Memorial Center for Victims of Terrorism, also indicates that "the heads of penitentiary establishments have vetoed about thirty imams who had previously been identified as extremists by the security services so that they do not enter prisons to provide religious assistance".