Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Spanish Duke Apologies To Jews of Gibraltar for Inquisition Era Expulsion

A Spanish aristocrat offered an official apology to the Jewish community of Gibraltar for the expulsion of Jews in the 15th century.

The duke of Medina Sidonia, D. Alonso Gonzalez de Gregorio y Alvarez de Toledo, read the apology to members of the Gibraltar Jewish Community on Monday at the Instituto Cervantes, the Gibraltar Chronicle reported.

It was the first time a representative of the family returned in an official capacity to Gibraltar in more than 500 years, since the 1474 expulsion, according to the Chronicle.

“Today I apologize before the Jewish Community in Gibraltar, who are moral and genetic heirs of the converted Andalucians, who in 1474 fled the cruel, uncontrollable genocide in Andalucia and resorted to take refuge in this city,” he said in his statement.

Two years later, the duke’s ancestor, Enrique Perez de Guzman y Fonseca, the second duke of Medina Sidonia, expelled them.

“Although some historians may have already distanced him from the atrocities, in no case have they been successful in exempting him from the grave responsibility which, through historical justice, I recognize in his name,” the current duke said.

Gibraltar was captured from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. It is now under the sovereignty of Great Britain.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.