In recent hours, Barcelona City Council has been embroiled in a media controversy following a series of interpretations of a guide presented in schools with advice on how to approach Ramadan with students.
The guide, called “Orientacions per a centres educatius durant el Ramadà” ( Guidelines for educational centers during Ramadan), offers a series of tips for coexisting with one of the main Muslim holidays in a city where half of the young people were born abroad and which has been growing for years with the arrival of people from all over the world and from diverse backgrounds.
No, music is not banned in Barcelona schools
Following the publication of this document, several media outlets have assumed that the city council has imposed a “music blackout” in schools so as not to offend those celebrating the holy month of Islam, fueling a narrative of censorship and loss of secularism in institutions.
However, the reality of the situation is set out in black and white in the guide “Orientacions per a centres educatius durant el Ramadà”(Guidelines for educational centers during Ramadan), a technical document prepared by the Office of Religious Affairs (OAR) and the BCN Interculturality Program, which seeks precisely to avoid this type of misunderstanding through rigorous information. Far from being a manual of prohibitions, the text is a roadmap for coexistence that makes it clear, from its very first page, that religious rights cannot take precedence over the compulsory education of minors.
Contrary to alarmist headlines, the original document from the city council establishes a framework for action in which compliance with the school curriculum is non-negotiable and mandatory for all students. Therefore, here is a short list of direct quotes from the document, which you can consult online yourself.
Music and physical education remain compulsory
The most sensitive point of the debate has been the alleged exemption from music. However, the manual is categorical on page 5: “There is no regulation that exempts Muslim students from any of the subjects in the curriculum, not even during the month of Ramadan.“
The guide simply explains that, within the plurality of interpretations of the Islamic faith, some families may consider that activities such as music or dance are not suitable for a month strictly dedicated to piety and spirituality. In view of this, the City Council recommends that teachers be “sensitive” when planning particularly relevant activities or, failing that, offer specific alternatives to facilitate inclusion, but at no time does it order classrooms to be silenced or allow a student to fail to fulfill their academic duties for this reason.
The school is not the “guardian” of the faith
Another myth that this document debunks is the idea that schools should monitor whether minors strictly comply with fasting. The manual explicitly states that “it is not the role of the school to act as a ‘guardian’ of any family’s religious beliefs.“
In fact, the guide is very clear regarding the protection of minors: if a student voluntarily decides to eat or drink, the school should not only not prevent them from doing so, but if it tried to force the child to continue fasting, it would be committing a “ violation of the duty of care towards the child.” The school’s priority is always the best interests of the child and their health, activating the usual protocols if any physical discomfort is detected.
Absence rights are already established by state law
It is important to note that the possibility for students to be absent on Friday afternoons (from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) to attend prayer, or to be absent during key holidays such as Eid al-Fitr, is not a new concession by the Barcelona City Council. These rights stem from Law 26/1992, a cooperation agreement signed by the Spanish State with the Islamic Commission of Spain more than thirty years ago, which guarantees religious freedom in education at the national level.
4A tool for coexistence, not a rulebook
The ultimate goal of this document is to provide teachers with tools to manage a diverse reality and “prevent situations of discrimination.“ Barcelona is committed to a model of interculturality where knowledge of others serves to overcome prejudices and guarantee equal treatment.