Sephardic ‘Law of Return’ Approved by Spain Cabinet
Image by kurt hoffman
The Spanish government has approved a draft bill that proposes to grant citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews who were forced into exile 500 years ago.
Spain’s Council of Ministers, the Spanish cabinet, on Friday approved the draft law, which proposes to dispense with the need to relinquish foreign nationalities as required for other new citizens, and which sets several criteria for obtaining the Spanish nationality for descendants Sephardic, the Spanish daily El Pais reported.
The criteria include recognition of Sephardic ancestry by a competent rabbinical authority in the applicant’s country of residence, according to El Pais, but applicants may also present other credentials such as family ancestry and knowledge of Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language.
The bill still has to pass parliament before it is implemented, according to the daily El Correo. Spanish media did not say when the bill would come up for a vote.
The draft bill was introduced in February by Spanish Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, who told JTA it was meant to “repair a historical error” in reference to the Spanish Inquisition which began in 1492. It forced hundreds of thousands of Jews to flee the Iberian Peninsula or convert to Christianity in an attempt to escape religious persecution led by the Catholic Church and the Spanish royal house.
The draft bill states that applications will be processed for two years only from the moment the bill is passed and goes into effect, and up to three years in special cases.
Under current Spanish legislation from 1924, Jews may apply for citizenship if they reside in Spain for more than two years and can prove family ties to expelled Spaniards. Each request is evaluated individually and approved or rejected by a senior Interior Ministry official.
The new draft bill proposes to do away with the demand for residence and to make the application process automatic and not subject to the ministry’s discretion for candidates who meet all the criteria.
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, or FCJE, expressed “enormous satisfaction” at the cabinet’s approval of the draft bill in a statement Friday, in which it called on lawmakers to pass the bill.
Portugal’s parliament has passed similar legislation in July but the law, which retains discretionary powers for officials, is yet to be implemented.
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
