The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports of the socialist government Pedro Sánchez established that school cafeterias in Ceuta will only offer halal food and will not include pork in their menus, in compliance with Islamic dietary regulations.
The measure, recently published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), involves the complete removal of pork products, such as ham or sausages, from school menus.
The provision is part of the new contract for cafeteria services for public educational centers in the autonomous city and will affect the 730 students benefiting from the program, distributed between the Ceuta North and Ceuta South areas.
Niña musulmana.
According to the terms and conditions, the awarded company must offer balanced, varied, and healthy meals, consisting of a first course, a second course, dessert, either fruit or dairy, and bread. However, the document specifies that all meat used must have "halal certification" and expressly prohibits the use of pork or products that do not comply with Islamic regulations.
The measure, which seeks to guarantee the "food inclusion of Muslim students," has sparked controversy in politics and on social media. The central government has not yet issued an official clarification on whether the provision could be extended to other territories in the country.
The reaction to the measure
No Spanish minor will be able to consume food that doesn't have Islamic certification, even those who do not practice that religion. The only political party that has expressed opposition to this provision is VOX, which described it as "a new betrayal and a concession to Islamism."
Niños musulmanes.
The party's spokesperson in Ceuta, Juan Sergio Redondo, stated in remarks to La Gaceta: "What we see today in school cafeterias, the imposition of exclusively halal menus, is a direct consequence of the process of institutional Islamization and Moroccanization that the PP has been promoting in Ceuta for years."
Redondo also stated that these measures represent "discrimination against non-Muslims" and reinforce "an administration increasingly subject to the interests of openly Islamized political groups."
The announcement also caused an intense discussion on social media, where many users expressed concern about the imposition of foreign religious criteria in public services funded with state resources.
