Mosques in Spain

Spain is home to roughly two million Muslims, close to four percent of the population, and one of the fastest-growing Muslim communities in western Europe. Contemporary Spanish Islam is largely shaped by Moroccan migration that began in the 1980s and 1990s, joined more recently by Pakistani, Senegalese, Algerian and Syrian communities, and by a small but visible group of Spanish converts. This page brings together the historical, geographical and practical landmarks to find your way among the Spanish mosques listed on the map.

A long al-Andalus heritage

The Iberian Peninsula was under Muslim rule for close to eight centuries, from the arrival of Umayyad forces in 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492. Córdoba became one of the great intellectual capitals of the medieval world, the Alhambra of Granada and the Giralda of Seville still stand as landmarks of that period, and the language, agriculture and architecture of southern Spain carry its imprint. After 1492 and the following centuries of expulsions, an organised Muslim presence disappeared from the country and only returned in the late twentieth century, when the 1978 constitution and the 1992 cooperation agreement with the Comisión Islámica de España rebuilt a legal framework for Muslim worship.

The main Muslim cities

Catalonia holds the densest Muslim urban fabric in the country, with Barcelona, Badalona, Lleida and Reus at its centre and a large Moroccan and Pakistani presence. Madrid concentrates a broad mix of communities, from the M-30 Central Mosque to smaller prayer rooms across Lavapiés, Tetuán and the southern belt. Andalusia has both a symbolic weight, with the Great Mosque of Granada opened in 2003 on the Albaicín hill, and a working Muslim life around Málaga, Almería and the fruit-growing towns of the coast. Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish enclaves on the North African coast, have long-standing Muslim populations of Riffian and Berber origin, and Valencia, Zaragoza, the Basque Country and Murcia complete the map.

A community-run mosque network

Spanish mosques are almost entirely funded and run by their own congregations, with limited public support. The Comisión Islámica de España federates the two main umbrella organisations, UCIDE and FEERI, and represents the community before the state, but no central authority governs the mosques. Most prayer rooms are set up in converted flats, shops or industrial units, alongside a smaller number of purpose-built mosques such as the M-30 in Madrid, the Basharat Mosque in Pedro Abad, the Great Mosque of Granada and the Central Mosque of Fuengirola.

Practical guidance

Spanish mosques follow the five daily prayers, with the largest gatherings on Friday around midday and during Ramadan. Many prayer rooms welcome visitors outside prayer times, and some purpose-built mosques run guided visits and open-house days. Modest dress is expected: shoulders and legs covered, hair covered for women, shoes removed before entering the prayer hall. In Andalusia, several historic monuments such as the Mezquita-Catedral of Córdoba are cultural sites rather than working mosques, and Muslim prayer inside them is not permitted.

How to use this directory

The interactive map above brings together the Spanish mosques listed from OpenStreetMap data. Each marker locates a place and gives access to its details. Coverage is stronger in the main urban areas and in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, and grows over time as the data is refined. City pages will strengthen this section in the months ahead, starting with the largest Muslim urban centres.