Spanish-Born 20-Year-Old Buried in Morocco After Madrid Muslim Cemeteries Run Out of Space
For nine days, Redwan Karmoun waited to bury his daughter Intisar, who died at 20 in Madrid. With no space available in the region’s Muslim burial sections, the family had to arrange for her body to be repatriated to Tetouan, Morocco.
On April 6, 2026, Intisar died at Madrid’s Ramón y Cajal Hospital after suffering cardiac arrest at home. Born in Spain, where she lived with her family, the young woman was to be buried according to Muslim rites. Her father, 53-year-old Redwan Karmoun, sought a burial plot in the region’s two sections reserved for Muslims, in Griñón and at the South Cemetery in Carabanchel. Everywhere, the answer was the same: no spaces were available.
The funeral directors offered him two options: a Muslim cemetery in Burgos, where the remains would have had to be moved after ten years, or another in Valencia. The latter option was too expensive for the family. The parents ultimately decided to repatriate their daughter to Morocco, reports Spanish daily El País.
A week of waiting before the journey to Morocco
Repatriation from Madrid-Barajas Airport costs around 4,000 euros, compared with up to 4,850 euros for a Muslim burial in the Madrid region. But on top of the financial cost came an especially painful wait.
For a week, Intisar’s body remained embalmed and refrigerated in Spain while the administrative formalities were completed. Her father described how difficult it was to know his daughter was in a cold room. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” he said.
Her body was eventually flown to Casablanca, then taken by road to Tetouan, where Intisar was buried on April 15, nine days after her death.
This situation affects many Muslim families in Spain. According to a report by the Entierro Digno association, only two out of a thousand cemeteries have sections for Muslim burials. The organization identified 44 across the country, of which only 14 had verifiable information on their capacity.
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The shortage of Muslim burial sections, already highlighted by Moroccan families in Catalonia, makes burials in Spain more difficult. Repatriation procedures to Morocco can also take time, especially when identity documents contain discrepancies between the two countries or require translation.
