Free Republic

Fiestas hit by fear of offending Muslims By Fiona Govan in Madrid (Filed: 03/10/2006) Spanish villages are abandoning the centuries-old tradition of burning effigies of the Prophet Mohammed for fear of offending Muslims. The annual festivals, across Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, feature locals donning medieval costumes to re-enact battles between "Moors and Christians" during the Reconquista (reconquest) period. The fiestas celebrate events in 1492, when the Catholic kings of northern Spain defeated and expelled Muslim forces, ending more than 800 years of Moorish rule in the Iberian peninsula. Traditionally the festivities have culminated with the burning of mannequins...