VOX has filed an appeal to halt the license for the future mosque in Polígono Sur. Mayor José Luis Sanz admits that municipal services will analyse the objections before voting on the file.
The municipal group of VOX has submitted an appeal to remove the file for the future mosque in Polígono Sur from the agenda of the executive commission of the Urban Planning Management. This initiative has led the City Council of Seville to consider a possible temporary halt to the project while the raised objections are analysed.
The construction license was due to be voted on this Friday, but the Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz, has acknowledged that it will first be necessary to decide whether VOX's request is approved. He explained that municipal services will need to assess a document that calls for greater justification of the project and the opening of a public participation process due to the social impact that, in the opinion of the appellants, the construction of the complex would have.
A sociocultural centre or a mosque
From Santiago Abascal's party, they maintain that the file does not accurately reflect the main use of the building. The spokesperson for VOX in the City Council of Seville, Gonzalo García de Polavieja, claims that the documentation presents the initiative as a sociocultural centre when, in reality, he believes that the predominant element is the space designated for Islamic worship.
In VOX's view, this difference is not a minor aspect. The party argues that the urban classification depends on the main function of the property and not solely on the area assigned to each dependency. If the predominant use were religious, they assert, the building conditions would be different and the project would need to comply with another regulation of the General Urban Planning Plan.
30-metre minaret and prayer hall
The party also points out that the planned complex incorporates elements that, in their opinion, evidence its character as a mosque. Among these, they cite a large prayer hall, a minaret approximately 30 metres high, the imam's residence, spaces designated for ablutions, and other facilities linked to religious activities. Additionally, the project includes other services, such as a dining hall and a medical centre, along with various social facilities.
VOX believes that the developer has attempted to present the complex as a sociocultural facility to fit it into a more favourable urban regime, an interpretation they reject and which constitutes the main basis of their appeal.
What happens now with the project
For his part, the mayor has reminded that the initiative was promoted by a private entity on privately owned land and that the license application began its processing nearly a year ago following the ordinary administrative procedure. However, he has admitted that it will be the Urban Planning Management itself that determines whether the file continues its course or is temporarily suspended while the submitted objections are analysed.
For the residents of Polígono Sur, the final decision will directly affect the future of the neighbourhood: if approved, the complex could become a meeting point with social and assistance services, but it also raises concerns about the integration of a large place of worship in an area with high population density and public equipment needs. The resolution of this appeal could set a precedent for how similar projects are processed in the city.
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