The Urban Planning Commission of Seville City Council votes on Friday for the construction licence of the Islamic cultural centre in Polígono Sur, a project that the Muslim community has pursued since 2004.
The Urban Planning Commission of Seville City Council has on the table this Friday the construction licence for the city's first large new mosque. The project, promoted by the Seville Mosque Foundation, has been seeking a place on the urban map for over twenty years and now faces its final administrative hurdle.
The chosen plot is a private land of about 2,500 square metres, located between Poeta Manuel Benítez Carrasco and Ronda Nuestra Señora de la Oliva streets, next to José Celestino Mutis park and bordering Polígono Sur. The foundation acquired the land with its own funds to avoid the issues that previously thwarted public land transfers.
The vote, which was scheduled for this week, had to be postponed due to a computer problem that prevented the submission of the file. The City Council has confirmed that the matter will be resumed in this Friday's session.
A centre open to the city with a mosque, classrooms, and a café
The projected complex will not only be a place of worship. The mosque itself will occupy approximately 20% of the built area and will have a capacity for between 400 and 500 people. The rest of the building will house classrooms, meeting rooms, a café, coworking spaces, and landscaped patios.
The total investment exceeds ten million euros, entirely private, as explained by the foundation's vice president, Jalid Nieto. “It will be a centre open to the city of Seville and all Sevillians,” he assured, emphasising that the funding is “completely private, without government interference.”
The design is by the Sevillian architect Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra, who has opted for a contemporary line inspired by Andalusian heritage. The project includes decorative references to the Giralda and a minaret, although the foundation warns that architectural and interior details will be finalised in a later phase.
Over twenty years of failed attempts
The Muslim community in Seville has been trying to build a large mosque since 2004. That year, the City Council ceded a plot in Los Bermejales, but local opposition and a ruling from the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia overturned the initiative. Subsequently, locations in Santa Bárbara and Pino Montano were considered, without success.
Currently, Sevillian Muslims have about thirty prayer rooms scattered across different neighbourhoods, most in commercial premises or adapted warehouses. There is no newly built structure specifically designed for Islamic worship. If the licence is approved, the Polígono Sur centre will become the first.
The historical context adds symbolism: during the Islamic period, Isbiliya had two large mosques, of which only remnants remain, such as the remains of the courtyard of the main mosque in the church of Salvador and the Giralda, an old Almohad minaret converted into the bell tower of the Cathedral after Fernando III's conquest in 1248.
The political debate and local pulse
The processing of the project has reopened the political debate in the City Council. Vox spokesperson Manuel Gavira has announced that his party will do “everything possible” to halt the initiative, as they believe it favours the expansion of Islam in the city. The municipal group has requested more public information about the file.
From the Seville Mosque Foundation, they insist that the project complies with urban regulations and remind that it is a private initiative on private land. The entity argues that the complex will be a space for worship, education, and cultural activity open to all Sevillians, not just the Muslim community.
For the residents of Polígono Sur, the arrival of the Islamic cultural centre could be a boost in an area traditionally affected by social exclusion. The plot, currently unused, is integrated into an environment of parks and housing that could benefit from the activity of the new facility.
The decision of the Urban Planning Commission will be known this Friday. If favourable, the foundation can apply for the construction licence and begin construction, which is expected to take several years. Until then, Sevillian Muslims will continue to pray in local prayer rooms, waiting for the dream of the first grand mosque to finally become a reality.
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