Imam arrested in Catalonia for child abuse and radical speeches

Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested an imam from the Marca de l'Ham neighborhood in Figueres (Alt Empordà). This imam is accused of abuse and mistreatment of minors and also of delivering radical speeches.

The imam, about 40 years old, arrived in Spain two years ago. According to journalist Anna Punsí, he lived with his family in a squatted apartment, together with his wife and four children. The National Police are now evaluating the possibility of expelling him from the country. However, after being arrested, the man spent the night in Mossos's facilities, but he is currently free.

According to complaints from some families in the Muslim community, the imam hit children with a stick or spanked them. These practices reportedly took place between late 2024 and early 2025 at the madrasa of the mosque in this Figueres neighborhood. In addition, he is accused of his radical speeches, where he called for the imposition of the veil for women and also for girls attending the Islamic school. Although he did not have any official qualifications, this imam taught classes for which the children's parents paid between 5 and 10 euros per month. The goal was for him to teach them Arabic and the Quran. However, some of the parents began to suspect and were the ones who reported the imam and his practices to the authorities.

Catalonia has a problem

This imam's case is part of a broader context of concern about the rise of Islamic radicalization in Catalonia. Since the attacks on La Rambla and Cambrils in 2017, the region has experienced an increase in radicalization within some mosques, which, according to police sources, are not always under adequate control. In many cases, mosques are centers where Salafist ideas, an ultra-conservative Islamic movement, are spread.

In Catalonia, one out of every three Muslim places of worship is associated with Salafism, according to police sources. The current number is unknown. In fact, this situation is worsened by the lack of an official mosque registry, which makes it difficult to control and prevent radical activities. Despite attempts to create a census in the region, the initiative was forgotten. Without a clear registry, it is almost impossible to thoroughly monitor mosques and prevent them from becoming places for the spread of extremist ideologies.

This is a new case of problems with imams in Catalan territory. So far in 2025, three mosque leaders have already been expelled from Catalonia for their links to extremism.

At the beginning of this year, an imam in Figueres was expelled for spreading radical messages in his preaching. Interestingly, he did so in the same mosque as the imam arrested this week. In addition, in La Junquera, another religious leader was deported in February for posing a threat to national security. The latest expulsion occurred on July 1, when an imam from Olot was arrested and deported to Morocco for promoting the superiority of Islamic law over Spanish laws, as well as advocating the use of the niqab for women.