The issue of ownership over the Great Mosque of Cordoba, an ongoing debate in the southern Spanish province of Andalusia, has taken on new dimensions, as rival political group set out to collect signatures over its status. The Catholic church in Spain has been criticised by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike for attempting to privatise the mosque, which is legally recognised as public property.
In 2006, the church claimed ownership of the mosque without government approval, and has since then been trying to cover up and distort its Islamic heritage by advertising it as a cathedral as entry tickets sold to tourists read “Welcome to the Santa Iglesia Cathedral”. This has prompted Andalusia’s Socialist regional government to consider taking legal action to protect the public ownership of the cultural asset, while a petition campaign by the ‘Save the Cordoba Mosque’ group to preserve the mosque’s status has collected around 156,000 signatures so far.