ESC FACTOR stories of Europe:

The daughter of Moroccan, Spanish parents, practising Muslims and wearing a visible headscarf, she has recently made herself known for her speeches in plenary sessions, openly accusing Vox, a party with which she has had several disagreements, to the point of becoming the opposition front for the extreme right in Ceuta.

On Saturday 13 November 2021, Fátima Hamed Hossain participated in an event together with the second vice-president of the Spanish government and minister of labour and social economy, Yolanda Díaz; the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau; the first vice-president of the Comunidad Valenciana, Mònica Oltra; and the spokesperson of Más Madrid, Mónica García at the Teatro Olympia in Valencia.

After Vox’s strong emergence in 2019, her status as a Spanish woman wearing a headscarf during plenary sessions made her the target of far-right hate rhetoric. Hamed talks about last March’s diplomatic and border crisis on the Moroccan border, the role of women in politics, and, above all, the xenophobic radicalisation of the political message in a city whose half of the population is Muslim.

Nationality is one thing and creed you may or may not have is another. Our State is non-denominational. It is the most normal thing in the world for a Spaniard to believe what he wants. Sometimes we are asked if we are Spanish or Muslim, as if it were incompatible. We don’t understand how nationality can be confused with belief. Of Vox, we all know what they are, an extreme right-wing formation with an ideology based on hatred for those who think differently and those who are different. This way of selling their message has been very successful for them, insulting, provoking and waiting for the reaction of the person in front.