Mosque fire falsely cast as retribution attack

Kate Atkinson November 18, 2025
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The footage is not of a mosque in Spain, but from a 2022 mosque fire in Indonesia. Image by AAP/Facebook

WHAT WAS CLAIMED

A video shows a mosque being burned down by Spaniards in response to Islamic attacks.

OUR VERDICT

False. The mosque is in Jakarta, and officials say the fire was accidentally started during renovation work.

AAP FACTCHECK - A video doesn't show a mosque being burned down by Spaniards in response to "Islamist attacks", despite claims online.

The clip shows a fire at a mosque in Indonesia that occurred during renovations.

A Facebook page operated by users based in Australia shared the false claim in a video which has been viewed more than 83,000 times.

The footage shows fire engulfing a building and an Islamic spire can be seen through the flames.

"BREAKING: The Spanish burned a Mosque in Barcelona in response to the increasing Islamist attacks on native Spaniards," text across the video reads.

However, the video was not filmed in Spain.

A screenshot of a TikTok video.
The video is more than two years old and shows a mosque fire that started during renovations. (AAP/TikTok)

A reverse image search shows it was originally posted on TikTok in October 2022 by Indonesian news outlet Tribun Cirebon.

"The fire broke out in the dome of the Islamic Center Mosque in Jakarta," an English translation of the caption reads.

The fire was reported by multiple media outlets at the time. The Jakarta Post reported the fire began while the mosque was being renovated and is believed to have been caused by sparks created when workers cut into part of the mosque's dome.

Claims the video shows a Spanish mosque were also debunked by AFP and Reuters in July.

It was then shared after a mosque was set on fire in the Catalan city of Piera, about 50km west of Barcelona.

The building's appearance is clearly different to the Indonesian Islamic Centre Mosque based on Google Street View, which shows it under construction, and photos shared by the Union of Islamic Communities of Catalonia.

These photos appear briefly at the bottom of the Facebook video.

Catalan Minister of the Interior Nuria Parlon said evidence points to the fire being an arson attack, but that police were still investigating, Spanish news outlet COPE reported.

There are no reports of Islamic attacks in the area before the mosque burned down.

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Sources

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