Muslim women kicked out of Spanish swimming pool for wearing burkinis

Two Muslim women were kicked out of a public swimming pool in Granada because they were wearing burkinis, according to Spanish media.

The women were swimming with their children when they were told by a pool attendant to leave "because of the type of swimwear they were wearing", Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.

The incident took place at the Centro Deportivo Municipal Periodista Antonio Prieto in Granada on Sunday (5 November).

Jemí Sánchez, Councilor for Social Rights of the City of Granada, told El Pais that the attitude of the attendant was "totally contrary to municipal norms". The burkini is banned in some parts of Spain, but not in Granada.

Sánchez said that as soon she learned of the incident she contacted Inacua, the company responsible for the management of the sports centre. A spokesperson for the company confirmed an incident had taken place and that the "two women were actually dressed in street clothes and that's how they were bathing".

But Francisco Fernández Caparrós of the Association for Human Rights of Granada (APDH) said that the "girls were in swimsuits and not in street clothes". She called on Inacua to apologise and promise that "no other discriminatory episode would take place at a municipal swimming pool in future".

"We could be facing an Islamophobic hate crime and a possible sanction for the company," said Sánchez, who is presenting the matter to the town council.

A witness said the women announced that they would file a complaint following their expulsion from the pool.

Last year, several places in France banned women from wearing burkinis at the beach. The ban was suspended after France's highest administrative court ruled that it was illegal and violated women's fundamental liberties.

In August, two British women were ordered to remove their burkinis while swimming in a private pool in Albufeira, Portugal.