The immigrant Muslim community in Spain

In April 2010, the Metroscopia Institute published the results of a survey entitled "The immigrant Muslim Community in Spain" (La Comunidad Musulmana de origen inmigrante en Espana). The survey had been commissioned by the Spanish Government, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Work and Immigration, within the framework of the National Plan for the Alliance of Civilisations.
The survey firstly allows us to grasp the evolution in religious self-determination among the population concerned, which, between 2006 and 2009, shows a downward trend in practising Muslims (from 52 to 41 %) in favour of Muslims who practise occasionally or not at all.
A second set of questions deals with the way life is experienced in Spain, how compatible Islam is with it and, more generally, with democratic values. These are broadly asserted, along with general confidence in Spanish institutions. On conditions for exercising worship, immigrant Muslims are largely in favour of state neutrality in religious matters. A minority of them (13 %) state that they had encountered obstacles to practising their religion. Finally, most respondents consider that Western countries guarantee the major, fundamental values more than Muslim countries do, as well as favourable economic and social conditions.