The New, Free Spain

A quote from the Islam in Europe website, 19 May 2008

Two villages in Malaga decided to ‘free” the last Moorish [Muslim] king of Al Andalus, Boabdil. Canillas de Aceituno (2,336 inhabitants) and Sedella (688 inhabitants) have approved changing their municipal coat of arms to remove the chain from around Boabdil’s neck, who surrendered Granada in 1492. According to the mayor of Canillas de Aceituno, Jose Manuel Aranda (PSOE, Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party), […] “We have decided to remove a symbol with connotations of racism and slavery that deepens the struggle for dominion among races, senseless in a new, free generation.”

Moorish Makeover

* Replace the crown with a star in a crescent moon.

* Change the Latin phrase to read, "All things are the creation of Allah".

* Replace the Latin script with Arabic.

* Replace the olive tree (?) with a palm tree.

 

And, there you have it, the dastardly deed is done. 

 

Keep the Chain, Change the Figure

They erred in not fully rethinking the design. Replace Boabdil with a likeness of Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero-- with chain slapped around his neck. After all, Zapatero serves as a symbol of modern history's fall of the "West" to Islam.