Spain’s Jewish community lauded King Juan Carlos after he abdicated the throne in favor of his son Prince Felipe. Juan Carlos on Monday made the surprise announcement that he would step down after nearly 40 years on the throne. “Spanish Jews recognize, value and appreciate the personal role His Majesty King Juan Carlos has played…
The federation of Spanish Jewish communities welcomed the decision to remove the words “kill Jews” from the name of a small village in northern Spain. The residents voted 29-to-19 to make the switch. The statement Monday by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, or FCJE, came after a majority a day earlier at a…
A Spanish village is considering removing the phrase “kill Jews” from its name. The village of Castrillo Matajudios near Leon in northern Spain will convene its 60 resident families at a town hall meeting next week to discuss and vote on the first formal proposal to change the village’s name, the regional daily Diario de…
(JTA) — In the center of the medieval Portuguese town of Medelim, two newlyweds in Sephardic wedding clothes are serenaded by a musical ensemble performing Ladino music. Nearby, several members of the knights Templar march in white capes and chain mail while a harlequin on stilts prances around carrying a pole topped with a Star…
(JTA) — There is a town in Spain called Castrillo Matajudios, and in Colombia “Matajudios” is a common surname. The problem is, in Spanish one meaning of the name is “Kills Jews.” Which has led a Colombian emigre cashier in Argentina to attract the ire of a Jewish organization there. It all started when Adrian…
When Spain finally offers citizenship to Sephardic Jews, will you qualify? According to Spain’s Justice Minister, who spoke at the American Jewish Committee’s offices in New York on March 19, the requirements to prove Sephardic descent will be loose. “The government is not looking to be strict,” said Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, speaking with the Forward after…
(JTA) — News that Spain is proposing to offer citizenship to the descendants of Jews expelled in the 15th and 16th centuries spread like wildfire in Israel. Within hours of the Spanish government’s announcement last month, the Israeli website Ynet published a list of family names supposedly eligible for citizenship that contained some obviously Ashkenazi…
Spanish Muslims urged their government to grant citizenship to descendants of Muslims who were expelled from Spain in addition to Jews. The demand was made this week in a statement by the Association for Historical Legacy of Al-Andalus, the Spanish news agency EFE reported on Feb. 17. “The Spanish state should grant the same rights…
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