Spanish Lawmaker Decries ‘Jewish Market’ Budget
![](https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/970x/center/images/cropped/w-jose-antonio-monago-020614-1423642631.jpg)
A pro-Israel Spanish politician apologized for using the term “Jewish market” in describing budget negotiations.
Jose Antonio Monago, the president of the local government of the Spanish autonomous region of Extremadura, said his statement was inappropriate but had been taken out of context.
Monago, in an apology appearing Thursday in the Europa Press news agency, had said in an earlier statement that “discussions about the budget must not turn into a Jewish market.”
“I did not mean to cause any offense with this expression,” he said, adding that he is “publicly apologizing to the Jewish community.“
In a statement Thursday, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, or FCJE, accepted Monago’s apology. “FCJE values the apology of the president of the Extremadura and thanks him for making them in connection with the unfortunate phrase,” the umbrella group wrote.
Monago visited Israel last year, calling it “a role model for the entire world and especially for Europe.”
At the end of his trip, he wrote an op-ed for the local el Periodico Extremadura in which he praised Israel for being a world leader in science and medicine and called its president, Shimon Peres, “one of the world’s most brilliant leaders.”
![](https://forward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/msgtwo.png)
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30