MADRID, September 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Days before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, Spain tastes more Islamic, especially in the south, with many shops racing to display different kinds of food favored by Muslims during the dawn-to-dusk fasting month.

"Year in and year out, southern Spain tastes special during Ramadan," expected to fall on Tuesday, October 4, Ahmad Al-Tuhiri, of Moroccan origin, told IslamOnline.net on Wednesday, September 28.

Ramadanian touches were visible almost everywhere in the south with many shops displaying dozens of burlap containing high-quality dates, nuts, dried figs, apricots, prunes in addition to halal meat.

"Dates are much sought-after in the run up to Ramadan," added Tuhiri who immigrated to Spain seven years ago.

Dates are a part of virtually every Iftar meal, when Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan. The tradition of the Sunna, which follows the ways of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), requires those who are fasting to break their fast with a date and some water.

Restaurants in southern Spain also prepare special meals for Muslims such as the delicious Moroccan soup (Al-Harira) to break their fast.

The special Ramadan tastes can even be felt in metropolitan cities such as Barcelona and Madrid.

In Barcelona, Pakistani and Moroccan tradesmen are gearing up for the month with pathways in districts heavily populated by their communities cluttering with sacks full of dates and other Ramadanian stuff.

A short tour in the Rafal district makes one feel as if s/he living in Lahore or Islamabad, IOL's correspondent says.

Even in the capital Madrid, areas such as the Lavapies district turned into a traditional Arab area selling Iraqi dates, Turkish apricots and Syrian nuts.

The Green Island, which is only 15km from Morocco, also has an aura of Ramadan.

"The atmosphere here is quite similar to that of Morocco where I used to spend the holy month with my family," said Abdul Malek Ashbib, who opened a car maintenance workshop in the business bustling island.

The island is hustling and bustling with burgeoning immigrant businesses in the summer, turning it into a big marketplace where one can find everything from fast-food restaurants to car maintenance workshops.

Ramadan this year, however, is marred by Muslim fears of spiraling Islamophobia in the country, which has been on the rise since the Madrid and London bombings.

"Fears of racist attacks are casting a pall on this Ramadan," said Tuhiri.

Tuhiri said media reports on the increasing illegal Muslim immigrants in the country have played well into the hands of the right-wingers and fueled racism.

Late August, a Moroccan immigrant was shot dead by a Spanish extremist.

Swear graffiti had been further sprayed on the walls of a mosque in southern Spain.

Spain has a Muslim minority of about 600,000 people out of a total population of 40 million. Some 94 percent of its population are Christian Catholics.