Cross removed from Almeria City building after three-year campaign

A LARGE iron crucifix has finally disappeared from a residence adjoining an Almeria City school playground.
Salvador Perez, whose daughter attends the Madre de la Luz state infants’ and primary school, first asked for the cross to be removed three years ago.
A religious symbol in a public space breaches the 1978 Constitution declaration of Spain as a secular state, Perez argued.
He was at first told that school and the educational residence adjoining it were once the same installation but were separated some time ago. The cross therefore had nothing to do with the school, which was not in a position to order its removal, the board of governors said.
Perez, with the backing of the Observatorio del Laicismo association, continued to insist that it should be removed. He also told the local Spanish media that he would put the matter in the hands of the regional ombudsman, given the Junta’s apparent lack of action.
The regional government finally sent an inspector to the Madre de la Luz school who told the board of governors that they were authorised to order the cross’s removal.
This has now been done but although it the episode sets a precedent for similar cases elsewhere, Salvador Perez was not entirely satisfied.
“What occurs in a school should not depend on board of governors,” he objected. “Just imagine what would happen if they decided to fly a Nazi flag,” he told a Spanish interviewer.