With Spain also moving to ban the burqa, Spiegel considers if the rush to uncover Europe’s most pious Muslims can be explained solely by a new-found desire to protect the rights of women. “As the debate has moved mainstream, it has become easier to ignore the fact that much of the momentum for bans of the burqa and the niqab come from right-wing populist parties.” “On a continent where the integration of its ever-increasing Muslim population has caused politicians fits for years…Europeans are concerned about radical Islam and many associate a burqa ban with combatting extremism.”