Antisemitism in Spain

Jews have been living in what is today Spain since the Roman times, known in Hebrew as the Sepharad.^[1] Antisemitism has existed in Spain for as long as Jews have been there.^[1]

The 7th century saw the Catholic Visigothic Kingdom ordering Jews to convert or leave,^[2] followed by the 12th-century Almohad Caliphate forcing Jews to convert or be killed,^[2] which drove the notable Jewish philosopher Maimonides into exile.^[2] Under Henry III of Castile and León (1390–1406), Jews had to pick baptism or death in reconquered Iberia.^[3]

From 1478 to 1834, the Catholic Spanish Empire unleashed a systematic campaign of persecution of Jews, historically known as the Spanish Inquisition,^[4][5] due to its belief that Jews who converted to Catholicism (conversos) were mostly faking as Christians,^[4][5] including those forcibly converted following the Alhambra Decree, or the Edict of Expulsion.^[4][3]

As many as 300,000 Jews under Catholic Spanish rule were killed over the false charge of "crypto-Judaism",^[4][5] a charge slapped on Jews who were forcibly converted.^[4][5] Some historians saw the Spanish Inquisition as racially motivated,^[4][5] serving as a turning point in the transition of anti-Judaism into antisemitism.^[6]

Between 1939 and 1975, antisemitic conspiracy theories formed the main theme of Francoist propaganda,^[2] especially the charge of "Judeo-Bolshevism" once promoted by Nazi Germany to justify the Holocaust.^[2][7] Isabel M. Peralta, a far-right Spanish figure, said in a 2021 rally that "Zionist and certain strata of that race [Jews] are the people that control the world," referring to the more common false claim.^[2]

For the past decade, movements within Spain have emerged to rewrite the history of the Spanish Inquisition.^[8] Members of the movements released a series of books, films, TV programs and mobile exhibitions^[8] to beautify the Inquisition-associated Spanish history.^[8]

In 2023, an ADL poll found that 26% of Spain's population held antisemitic beliefs,^[9] followed by Belgium (24%), France (17%), Germany (12%) and the UK (10%).^[9]

In 2024, Spanish Jews make up 0.093% of Spain's population of 48,370,000. In April, the Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience found that at least 36 attacks had happened to Spanish Jews between 7 October 2023 and 19 April 2024, about six attacks per month.^[10] In July, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that 78% of Spanish Jews saw antisemitism as a big problem in Spain.^[11]

• Lisbon massacre
• Spanish Inquisition