Religious freedom has also led to intense debates when it has come into conflict with dignity or the right to life and health, as in the case of parents who were opposed, due to their religion, to their son being tested. blood transfusion on which his life depended (STC 141/2009); or depending on the interpretation that can be made of the use of clothing that hides a woman's body, of article 14 of the Constitution: Spaniards are equal before the law , without any discrimination based on birth or race. , sex, religion, opinion or any other personal or social condition or circumstance. Furthermore, a clear threat or risk to public order or security could also be elements that motivate a restriction of the right to religious freedom, as they do with the right to assembly and demonstration, for example.
Article 16 of the Constitution finds its regulation in DJ USA the Religious Freedom Law , which establishes, among other issues, the right of every person to “receive and impart religious teaching and information of all kinds, whether orally, in writing or by any other means.” procedure; choose for themselves, and for non-emancipated and incapacitated minors, under their dependence, inside and outside the school environment, religious and moral education that is in accordance with their own convictions. In line with what was mentioned above regarding security is the third article of this norm: “The exercise of the rights arising from freedom of religion and worship has as its only limit the protection of the right of others to exercise their public freedoms.” and fundamental rights , as well as the safeguarding of public security, health and morality, constitutive elements of public order protected by Law in the context of a democratic society.
In France the issue is crystal clear: no religious symbol can be brought to class. However, in Spain, today no one would prohibit a pendant with a cross, but a burqa or a niqab (which leaves little more than the eyes visible) which, in the opinion of quite a few, denigrates women and, Furthermore, it can prevent the student from interacting on an equal basis with her classmates. In Catalonia, where regional regulations were promised that would harmonize the regulation of this issue, 17 municipalities prohibited the full veil, the burqa, in public spaces in different ordinances. However, according to El País, a year after the ban, in 2014, not a single fine was imposed for this reason . The councilors assured that it had not been necessary to use the ordinances. The Ombudsman endorsed that educational centers impose dress standards on their students as a result of the controversy generated in 2019 by the prohibition of wearing a hijab for a student in a public center in that community.