Polarization and hybridization among Muslims in Ceuta and Madrid

Political polarization about Muslim presence in Europe is fostering a discursive atmosphere that, when combined with social inequality and urban segmentation, places hybrid identities among the descendants of migrants under strain. This article engages with scholarship on Muslims in European cities to argue that identity hybridization constitutes the norm rather than an exception. It further identifies key strategies of religious reinterpretation through which such hybrid identities are articulated. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in two Spanish cities, the analysis examines how local configurations of symbolic and material polarization shape the expression of Muslim subjectivities. The comparison reveals that, while polarization in Ceuta gives rise to more constrained and distressed forms of identification, the comparatively less polarized context of Madrid allows for more confident and stable expressions of hybridity.