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322 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 11 / 2018 A CLOSER STUDY OF THE DISCOURSE OF NIQABI WOMEN IN SPAIN INTRODUCTION Today, Islam is spreading rapidly throughout Europe and particularly Spain, primarily on account of the various flows of migrants that settle in the area. According to the Pew Research Center, Muslims will make up 4.09 % of the population of the European Union by 2020 and the figure is expected to rise to 8.12 % by 2050. These estimates are mainly based on the lower average age of practising Muslims, higher fertility rates and immigration. According to data published, the Muslim population will grow faster in Spain, rising, in absolute terms, from 1.6 million in 2020 to almost four million by 20501. However, there is another factor that is contributing to the growth of the Muslim population: the steady increase in the number of converts to Islam. This issue is particularly visible in different Internet forums and social media such as Facebook2. Muslim convert communities are becoming increasingly large in cities such as Córdoba, Granada and Valencia, where they are members of very active associations. Some studies claim that the phenomenon of conversion or the «return to Islam», as the converts call it, began with Francoism3, when, according to the conclusions of Dietz’s study, conversion was seen as an alternative to and a way of breaking with Catholic tradition. Based on data from the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain (UCIDE), Muslims made up approximately 4 % of the population in December 2016. According to data published by the UCIDE, there are around 1,919,141 Muslims living in Spain. By Autonomous Community, Catalonia has the largest Muslim population, followed by 1  PEW RESEARCH CENTER (2015). Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050 http://www. pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/2050/number/Europe/. 2  In 2000 there was a website called Islam en línea (Islam Online) which had a particularly active forum where dawah or an invitation to share Islam was extended (proselytism). It was one of the most important Spanish websites devoted to Islam at the time. However, with the advent of social media, and particularly Facebook, the form of association has changed. There are currently several Facebook groups devoted to Islam where you will see this at work. Two of the most popular ones are Islam en español para todos (Islam in Spanish for everyone) and the more specialised group Comunidad islámica de musulmanes conversos (Muslim community of converts to Islam). 3  In the case of Granada, some publications trace the beginning of conversion to Islam to the end of the Spanish Civil War and highlight the growing number of women involved in the process, for example: DIETZ, Gunther. Mujeres musulmanas en Granada: discursos sobre comunidad, exclusión de género y discriminación etnorreligiosa. Red Migraciones Internacionales, 2004. In the case of Valencia, mention must be given to the Centro Cultural Islámico whose chairperson until recently was a Spanish woman who had converted to Islam. http://revista.ieee.es

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