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Spanish Jews

Israel's Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, listens during a meeting with US President Donald Trump, Lebanon's Ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Leiter, at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2026. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
May 10, 2026, 4:35 pm
Israeli envoy takes rare swipe at US Jewish groups for cosponsoring Spanish exhibit
Yechiel Leiter says partnering with embassy for show on Jewish life in Moorish Spain ‘risks lending legitimacy to government working to vilify Israel’; World Jewish Congress responds: Disengagement not the answer
By Jacob Magid
Tamara Cohen has sold challah along with bagels every week since she opened Mazál. (Shira Li Bartov/ JTA)
January 29, 2026, 5:21 am
Her ancestors were expelled from Spain. Now she’s bringing bagels to Madrid
After proving ancestry and getting Spanish citizenship, Tamara Cohen found herself in a Jewish food desert. Her restaurant, Mazal, is providing a nosh for Jews and non-Jews alike
By Shira Li Bartov
In July 2025, a group of Spanish scholars suggested that a 4th-century building in the Roman city of Cástulo in south-central Spain served as a synagogue and not as a church as previously believed. Right: An aerial view of the archaeological site. Left: The reconstruction of an oil lamp featuring a menorah found in the vicinity of the building. (Courtesy of Bautista Ceprián)
August 6, 2025, 5:57 am
Study suggests 4th-century prayer site may be one of Spain’s earliest synagogues
Oil lamps decorated with menorahs and architectural evidence uncovered in the Roman city of Castulo suggest that the building was not a church, but served as Jews’ place of worship
By Rossella Tercatin
ILLUSTRATIVE: Man holds Spanish passport, June 9, 2009. (LEON NEAL / AFP)
July 1, 2025, 3:38 pm
Spain uncovers ring of fraudsters behind fake Sephardic citizenship applications
Multi-million-dollar fraud scheme allegedly exploited Spain’s ‘law of return,’ which grants citizenship to Jews who can trace their roots to pre-Inquisition Iberia
By Orge Castellano
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrive for a joint statement at the Moncloa palace in Madrid, Spain, September 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)
October 16, 2024, 1:37 am
In long-shot wartime proposal, Spain and PA push for reprise of 1991 Madrid peace summit
Pledging to meet by end of year, both players seek relevance as the Gaza conflict rages on; but experts say that with neither Israeli nor US participation, prospects are poor
By Batya Levinthal
Portrait of a man thought to be Christopher Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519.(public domain)
October 13, 2024, 12:32 pm
Study finds Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe
Researchers analyze DNA fragmented remains believed to be world-shaping explorer’s; they say any further narrowing down of his origins remains elusive
By Graham Keeley
Members of 'penas' (festive groups) unfold a Palestinian flag on the sun section of the bullring at the begining of the fifth bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 11, 2024. (Ander Gillenea / AFP)
July 16, 2024, 3:51 pm
From bullfights to Euro 2024, Spain’s overt Gaza support sparks fear in some Jews
The country, one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s war in the Strip, is home to a Jewish community that reports feeling an increasingly hostile environment
By Romain Chauvet
Some bars in León, Spain advertise that they serve "Mata judios" cocktails, though most menus say "limonada." (Shira Li Bartov, via JTA)
March 30, 2024, 10:29 am
‘Kill Jews’ cocktail rocks Spanish town’s Holy Week: ‘An expression, it’s not racist’
In centuries-old tradition, revelers seeking limonadas say they are going out to ‘kill Jews’ in Castilian Holy Week capital, epicenter of pre-Expulsion Spanish Jewry
By Shira Li Bartov
Hitler and Francisco Franco give the Nazi salute as they walk by German soldiers at the train station at Hendaye, France, October 23, 1940. (Public domain)
September 5, 2023, 5:22 am
How dictator Franco built his regime vilifying the Jews, then tried to hide it
In his new book ‘Architects of Terror,’ Sir Paul Preston shows how Spain’s ties to Nazi Germany and use of antisemitic propaganda belied its claims of sympathy for Jewish refugees
By JP O’ Malley
The former metro building on Calle Castelló in Madrid, Spain is the intended seat of the Hispano-Jewish Museum, the first of its caliber on the Iberian Peninsula. (Google Maps)
July 27, 2023, 3:03 pm
Hispanic Jewish group signs lease for $40 million museum
Institution in the city’s upscale Salamanca district will be the first of its caliber in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, a founder says
By Canaan Lidor
Illustration showing Jews burning during the Inquisition (public domain)
March 6, 2023, 4:48 pm
Inspired by Purim heroine Esther, Inquisition-era crypto-Jews feasted in her honor
Church records tell of a Jewish woman’s 1688 confession to admiring Queen Esther, who also hid her Jewish identity. Her community prepared special foods for ‘St. Esther’s Feast’
By Ronit Treatman
A site confirmed by archaeologists to be the remains of a 14th-century synagogue in Utrera, Spain, February 7, 2023. (YouTube screenshot: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
February 8, 2023, 10:49 am
Archaeologists uncover rare remains of 14th-century Spanish synagogue
Historian Rodrigo Caro hinted at temple’s existence in 1604, writing that site was formerly used by Jews to pray; after years of analysis, archaeologist confirms prayer room
By AP
In this still from the new feature film 'Alegria,' Yael (Laia Manzanares) is at right, with her mother Raquel (Adelfa Calvo) at left. (Courtesy/ Julio Vergne)
January 20, 2023, 10:12 pm
In ‘Alegría,’ Jews, Christians and Muslims come to a boil in a Spanish melting pot
The new film by director Violeta Salama, screening at the New York Jewish Film Festival on Jan. 22, embraces complexities of identity in the tumultuous African port city of Melilla
By Rich Tenorio
Doreen Alhadeff (center) poses with Mayor of Torremolinos Jose Ortiz (left) and David Obadia, president of the Jewish Community of Torremolinos and Spanish flags after signing her Spanish citizenship papers on February 2, 2016 in Torremolinos, Spain. (courtesy)
September 29, 2022, 5:38 am
Jewish woman to be knighted for helping Sephardic Jews gain Spanish citizenship
Doreen Alhadeff, who was 1st American Jew granted citizenship under 2015 Spain law and later helped guide people through process, says honor shows ‘unbelievable promise’
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Xerta, a restaurant in Barcelona, sits in the L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample neighborhood of the city. (Courtesy of Xerta/ via JTA)
August 2, 2022, 9:54 am
Hungry for Jewish tourism, Barcelona gets world’s 1st kosher Michelin-starred eatery
The city is rolling out the red carpet and seeking to brand itself as a destination for Jews interested in exploring their heritage
By Orge Castellano
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