Spanish Town Celebrates Name Change from ‘Kill Jews Town’
Image by wikipedia
A town in northern Spain held an official ceremony to celebrate its name change from “kill Jews town.”
In June, the town formerly known as Castrillo Matajudíos published its new name — Castrillo Mota de Judios, or Castrillo Jews’ Hill — in the official state gazette. The name change was approved by the regional government of Castilla y Leon.
On Friday, Israel’s ambassador to Madrid, Daniel Kutner, joined representatives from Spain’s Jewish and Sephardic communities for a ceremony during which the town’s new name signs were installed, The Local – Spain, reported.
Last year, some 50 residents of the town voted to change its name at the suggestion of Mayor Lorenzo Rodriguez, who submitted the proposal to change the name back to the original Castrillo Mota de Judios. He said the name was changed during the Spanish Inquisition.
A massacre of Jewish people is believed to have taken place near the town in 1035 and another massacre happened inside the village in 1109, according to The Local.
In parts of Spain, especially in the north, locals use the Spanish term for “killing Jews” to describe the traditional drinking of lemonade spiked with alcohol at festivals held in city squares at Easter, or drinking in general.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
