Veiled women walk in Barcelona on June 16, 2010. Spain&#39;s government plans to ban the use of the Islamic burqa in public places under a proposed new law on religious freedom, the justice minister said on June 15, 2010. His remarks came a day after the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, announced it would be the first large city in Spain to ban the use of the full-face Islamic veil in public buildings. Immigration from Muslim countries has soared in Spain since the 1990s, with Catalonia in particular being home to a large community of Pakistani origin.