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Rabat – The French city of Grenoble officially allowed women to wear burkinis in its public swimming pools.
“The #Grenoble city council has adopted the new internal rules for municipal pools. We are lifting clothing bans: only the rules of hygiene and safety count,” Grenoble mayor Eric Piolle tweeted.
Despite political opposition, Grenoble’s municipality council narrowly approved the new rules during a meeting on Monday. After a heated debate, the measure received 29 votes in favor, 27 votes against, and two abstentions, reported France24 on Tuesday.
The main political opposition comes from France’s Interior Minister, Gerard Darmanin, who is leading the charge to ban the conservative attire.
Darmanin took to Twitter yesterday to criticize Grenoble’s decision, calling the move an “unacceptable community provocation, contrary to our values.”
However, Eric Piolle has repeatedly stated that the burkini debate is “not an issue.”
According to Euro News, Piolle argued that the change in swimming pool regulations, which are implemented before the pools open in mid-June, intends to “remove aberrant clothing bans” and combat “injunctions on women’s bodies.”
The Grenoble mayor’s decision also faces opposition from his own left wing. Laurence Rossignol, vice president of the socialist party in France, called Piolle “a moron” this morning, adding that “he is basically wrong” and that “this decision pollutes the campaign of the Left.”
Read also: ‘Burkini’ and ‘Bikini’ Both Coexist on Moroccan Beaches: Haddad
A burkini is a type of women’s swimsuit. The suit covers the entire body except the face, hands, and feet and is light enough to swim in. Muslims women who want to abide with Islam’s mandates to cover their bodies in public can wear this suit to swim.
The burkini is allowed in many European countries, but it is still controversial in others, such as France, which has the most Muslims in Europe. France banned burkini and other full veil clothing in public spaces in 2011.
