Compiled by Yousuf Saifuddin/Dubai : The holy month Ramadan attains great importance in Spain, including cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Catalonia, where numerous Muslim communities reside.

Many Muslims travel home for the holy month, meaning across the Strait of Gibraltar and to Almería and Alicante from Tangiers, Ceuta, Melilla, Algiers and Oran.

As common practice, Muslims in Spain get together for Iftar and organise social meetings in mosques.

The Islamic Centre of Madrid organises several activities during this month. After Maghrib prayers, mosques become a place of festivity and everyone eats hareesa and dates.

Women spend all day preparing traditional food for their homes and for their relatives and friends whom they meet at the mosque.

Other activities Spanish mosques organise include Arabic classes, Islamic culture classes and Qur’an and Hadith discussions.

It is noteworthy that an agreement of cooperation, between the Spanish State and the Islamic Commission of Spain was established in 1992 and approved as Law 26/1992. The law affirms in article 12.1 that: “Members of the Islamic Communities belonging to the Islamic Commission of Spain who desire, will be able to request the interruption of their work on Friday of each week, from 1pm to 4.20pm, as well as finishing work one hour before sunset, during the month of Ramadan.”

The Baizin neighbourhood in Granada, during Ramadan, is very similar to old neighbourhoods in Damascus, Syria or Casablanca, Morocco. One can see Ramadan pastries, religious cassettes and books, as they walk through the streets.

In the Spanish area closer to Morocco known as the Green Island by the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar, many restaurants owned by Moroccans tend to serve fasting Muslims.

Considered as the pearl of southern Spain, Marbella, or “City of Dreams” as visitors call it, is one of the cities where Muslim immigrants, including Arab visitors, enjoy the best atmosphere of harmony and tranquillity during this holy month.

(Courtesy:http://www.khaleejtimes.com)