jewish travel spain

Where are Spain's Most Famous Jewish Quarters?

Spain was a land of promise for Jews in the Middle Ages, until the 1492 expulsion by the Catholic Kings (Reyes Catolicos). There is a number of towns and cities in Spain that are important to Jewish heritage in the country.

There are famous Jewish quarters throughout Spain: from those in Andalusia's Seville and Cordoba to the ones in Catalonia's Barcelona and Girona, as well as one in north-west Spain's Ribadavia, not to mention those close to Madrid in Segovia and Toledo, you can find a Jewish Quarter to explore no matter where you are staying in Spain.

What follows is a list of the cities that make up Jewish Spain, with details of what there is to see in each city.

Jewish Barcelona and Girona

El Call is Barcelona's Jewish Quarter. Located between the Cathedral of La Seu, Plaça Jaume, and Plaça del Pi, it's an atmospheric area which offers a fascinating insight both into Barcelona's history and the story of Jewish people in Catalonia.

El Call means "alleyway," and suitably, El Call itself is a small maze of narrow streets. The Jewish presence in Barcelona dates back to the 9th Century, although it was two centuries later when El Call was created.

Jews were hugely influential in the emergence of Barcelona as a trading port of international significance during the medieval period and enjoyed the King's protection. Until 1391 that was, when the Jewish Quarter was attacked and Jewish privileges rescinded. An interesting spot here is the Centre d'Interpretació del Call. This is a museum dedicated to the history of the Jewish Quarter. It's in a 14th Century house called the House of the Rabbi and conserves rare period details in its architecture.

Also of interest is an ancient synagogue, the Synagoga Mayor, believed to be one of the oldest in Europe, dating back as far as the third century AD. It has been restored by the  Associació Call de Barcelona  and is open to the public.

Girona's Jewish Quarter

The Jewish quarter in Girona is also called the 'Call' and is one of the best preserved in Europe. The streets of Carrer de Sant Llorenç and Carreró, Travessia del Dr Luis Batlle and Carrer del Dr Miquel Oliva make up the main part of the Jewish quarter here. Torre Gironella is the famous refuge of the Jews during troubled times.

Read more about  Girona .

What Else is There to See in Girona?

Girona is a classic medieval walled city that is great to aimlessly wander around in. It is close to the city of Figueres, home to the Salvador Dali museum .

How to Get to Girona

Girona is on the high-speed rail line from Barcelona to Paris (the train also serves Figueres). Barcelona also has a famous Jewish Quarter.

Jewish Toledo

Toledo had one of the largest Jewish populations in Spain. A good place to see the old Jewish quarter is from the Mirador de San Cristóbal. The quarter stretches from Calle Taller del Moro as far as the city walls at the Puerta del Cambrón. Two of the city's ten synagogues still survive as they had been converted into churches following the expulsion of the Jews - the Sinagoga del Tránsito (now a museum) and the Sinagoga Santa Maria la Blanca. Ask for more information on Jewish Toledo at the museum in the Tránsito synagogue.

Read more about  Toledo

What Else is There to See in Toledo

Toledo is one of the most popular day trips from Madrid, famous for its city walls and cathedral.

How to Get to Toledo

Take the high-speed train from Madrid to Toledo and you'll be there in 30 minutes!

Jewish Segovia

The old Sinagoga Mayor is now the Corpus Christi church and marks the start of the Jewish quarter, which stretches from there to the Canonjía. The tourist information center in Segovia has a lot of good information on the city's Jewish quarter, including recommended routes through the district.

Read more about  Segovia

What Else is There to See in Segovia

Segovia is a great day trip from Madrid. It has a 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct and a fairytale castle (think Bavarian or Cinderella's).

How to Get to Segovia

Take the high-speed train from Madrid: it takes under an hour.

Read more about How to Get from Madrid to Segovia

However, it's worth popping in to Avila on the way to see the fabulous city walls. This detour can't be taken by train and to fit both in a single day, you'll probably want to take a guided tour.

Jewish Córdoba and Seville

Cordoba is almost seen as a little brother to nearby Seville, but in terms of its Jewish heritage, it's the main city in the area. But with the two cities just 40 minutes apart by train, it makes sense to visit the two on the same trip.

Córdoba's Jewish quarter is one of the most famous in Spain. The whitewashed walls of the district just north of the great Mezquita mosque is one of the most popular sights in the city. The streets of Tomas Conde, Judíos and Plaza Juda Leví make up the majority of the Jewish quarter (in Plaza Juda Leví you can find the municipal tourist office with lots of information on the Jewish community in Córdoba).

The 14th-century synagogue in Córdoba is the only one in Andalusia and the only synagogue in Spain that was never turned into a Christian building. Other important sights in the Jewish Quarter include a bull museum and a monument to Jewish philosopher and doctor Maimonides.

What Else is There to See in Córdoba

Cordoba's number one sight is its Mosque-Cathedral, which has served the city's other two faiths for centuries.

Read more about  Córdoba .

How to Get to Córdoba

Cordoba is on the high-speed train line from Madrid to Seville , particularly close to the latter city, which makes visiting from Seville a great idea. Plus, Seville has an important Jewish quarter of its own to visit.

Other Jewish Cities in Spain

Cáceres had two Jewish quarters, each with a synagogue. The Judería Vieja (Old Jewish Quarter) had its synagogue where the San Antonio hermitage stands today. The synagogue of the Judería Nueva (New Jewish Quarter) stood on c/Cruz, but no longer stands.

Tudela had two Jewish quarters, the Juderia Vetula (around c/San Julián) and the Juderia Nueva (along Paseo del Castillo) and once had three synagogues, though no one is entirely sure where they were.

The Jewish quarter begins around La Plaza and goes up to the river, where you will find a number of small winding streets. It consisted of the streets of Call del Vado, Calle Amistad Judeocristiana and Calleja de los Cofrades, but most of the original Jewish buildings have long been in the hands of other religions. The synagogue was on Calle del Rabilero.

Ribadavia's Jewish heritage is quite well preserved. There are a number of festivals in Ribadavia that have Jewish origins - the Festa da Istoria, the Boda Judía and performances of Sephardic music. The synagogue would have been on Plaza de la Magdalena.

Ribadavia is a good place to get information on Jewish Spain, as the Network of Jewish Quarters in Spain and the Sephardic Information Center of Galicia are both in this town.

The Catalan town of Tortosa has a strong history of both Muslims and Jews. The Jews in the town occupied an important position in the town as early as the eighth century, when the town was occupied by the Muslims, as they were able to provide a link between the Christians and the Jews. When the Christians liberated the town in the 12th century, the Jews received the Muslim shipyards. The new Jewish quarter, founded in the 13th century, is still well preserved to this day, occupying the streets around Major de Remolins.

Plan the Perfect Trip to Spain

19 Regions and Islands of Spain: From Worst to Best

Spain's Must-See Sights and Attractions: City by City

Visit the East Coast of Spain

How Long Should You Spend in Each City in Spain?

Guide to Visiting Granada in Spain

The Most Popular Cities to Visit in Spain

The 20 Best Things to Do in Spain

The Very Best of Spain's Cities, Regions, Food, and Drinks

How to Get From Madrid to Toledo by Train, Bus, and Car

Top 10 Spanish Dishes to Try While In Spain

The 10 Best UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Spain

What You Should Eat in Spain: City by City

Getting From Malaga to Seville

The 12 Best Day Trips From Madrid

The Best Cities in Andalusia

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

• Passover Programs 2024
• Passover Programs Bahamas
• Passover Programs in Brazil
• Passover Programs in Canada
• Passover Programs Caribbean
• Passover Programs in Colombia
• Passover Programs in Costa Rica
• Passover Programs in Cyprus
• Passover in the Czech Republic
• Passover Programs in France
• Passover Programs in Georgia
• Passover Programs in Greece
• Passover Programs in Italy
• Passover Programs in Portugal
• Passover Programs in Romania
• Passover Programs in Spain
• Passover Programs in Switzerland
• Passover Programs in the United Kingdom
• Passover Programs in Israel
• Passover Programs in Mexico
• Passover Programs in Morocco
• Passover Programs in Panama
• Passover Programs in South Africa
• Passover Programs in Thailand
• Passover in Dubai & The UAE
• Passover Programs in Arizona
• Passover Programs in California
• Passover Programs in Colorado
• Passover Programs in Connecticut
• Passover Programs in Florida
• Passover Programs in Hawaii
• Passover Programs in Maryland
• Passover Programs in Nevada
• Passover Programs in New Jersey
• Passover Programs in New York
• Passover Programs in Utah
• Passover Programs in Vietnam
• Kosher Summer Vacations 2024
• Kosher Cruises
• Kosher Hotels Year Round
• Kosher / Heritage Tours
• Kosher Villa & Apartment Rentals
• Shavuot Programs
• Dubai Kosher Vacations
• Kosher Sukkot Programs
• Kosher Rosh Hashanah
• Kosher Winter Sun Vacations
• Kosher Ski & Winter Vacations
• Kosher & Jewish in...
• Kosher & Jewish Near me
• Kosher Eateries
• Kosher & Jofy* Hotels
• Kosher & Jofy* Rentals
• Kosher Policy
• Synagogues & Minyanim
• Update The Directory
• Shabbat Times
• Kosher Travel Digest
• Destinations Blog
• Passover Program Blog

Popular Places In Spain

Are you looking for kosher eatery or jewish poi near you, about spain.

Spain, a country on Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, includes 17 autonomous regions with diverse geography and cultures. Capital city Madrid is home to the Royal Palace and Prado museum, housing works by European masters. Segovia has a medieval castle (the Alcázar) and an intact Roman aqueduct. Catalonia’s capital, Barcelona, is defined by Antoni Gaudí’s whimsical modernist landmarks like the Sagrada Família church. In the 8th century, nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered (711–718) by largely Moorish Muslim armies from North Africa. These conquests were part of the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate. Under Islamic law, Christians and Jews were given the subordinate status of dhimmi. This status permitted Christians and Jews to practice their religions as People of the Book but they were required to pay a special tax and had legal and social rights inferior to those of Muslims. Córdoba, the capital of the caliphate since Abd-ar-Rahman III, was the largest, richest and most sophisticated city in western Europe. Mediterranean trade and cultural exchange flourished. Spain was Europe's leading power throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions and became the world's leading maritime power. The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. For three years the Nationalist forces led by General Francisco Franco and supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy fought the Republican side, which was supported by the Soviet Union, Mexico and International Brigades but it was not supported by the Western powers due to the British-led policy of Non-Intervention. In 1939, General Franco emerged victorious and became a dictator. Spain became a democracy in 1978 after the death of General Franco. The climate of Spain, its geographic location, popular coastlines, diverse landscapes, historical legacy, vibrant culture and excellent infrastructure, has made Spain's international tourist industry among the largest in the world. In the last five decades, international tourism in Spain has grown to become the second largest in the world in terms of spending, worth approximately 40 billion Euros or about 5% of GDP in 2006.

The Best Of Spain

Are you a spain kosher establishment or tour operator, jewish history, poi & kosher establishments in spain.

The two major centers of Jewish life in Spain are Madrid (4,500) and Barcelona (3,500), followed by Malaga, where a smaller number of Jews live. Other communities are found in Alicante, Cadiz, Marbella, Majorca, Torremolinos, and Valencia, Canary Islands, Oviedo, Seville. In Spanish North Africa, Jews reside in Ceuta and Melilla. The Jewish community of modern Spain is primarily based on waves of post-war migration from Morocco, from the Balkans, from other European countries, and, most recently (in the 1970s and 1980s), from Latin America. A sizable proportion of the community is affiliated to the synagogue-focused communal centers in Barcelona and Madrid, which, in turn, are linked to the Federacion. Barcelona also has a Reform and Chabad congregations, Madrid also has Mazorti and Chabad, Valencia also has Mazorti, Majorca and Malaga also have Chabad. In the absence of laws restricting hate propagation or Holocaust denial, Spain serves as a publishing and distribution center for neo-Nazis and other extreme rightists. Indeed, Spain serves as a refuge for a number of Nazi war criminals and neo-Nazis convicted elsewhere of promoting racial hatred or historical revisionism. Toledo features the Museo Sephardi (situated in the El Transito synagogue), the nearby Church of Santa Maria La Blanca (an ancient synagogue), and the former Jewish quarter. The synagogue of Maimonides can be visited in Cordoba. Most of these have long since been used as churches. Former Jewish areas, the juderias, can be seen in, Avila, Barcelona, Besalu, Caceres, Calahorra, Córdoba, Estella, Gerona, Hervas, Jaén, León, Monforte de Lemos, Montblanc, Oviedo, Palma de Majorca, Plasencia, Rivadavia, Segovia, Tarazona, Tarragona Tortosa and Tudela. Kosher travelers can find restaurants in cities throughout the country. There are kosher restaurants in Madrid, Barcelona, Marbella and Costa Del Sol. There are also some great Passover programs in Spain and throughout Europe.

What Is *JOFY?

JOFY, or "Jewish Observant Friendly" Establishments are lodging establishments offering special services for Jewish Observant guests such as Shabbat meals, accommodation on lower floors and regular keys for the rooms. It can also be a NON KOSHER establishment located in walking distance from the local Shul, community or kosher restaurants area.

Please note - *JOFY does NOT mean that KOSHER food is served on the premises!

• {{field.title}}
• Advertising Terms
• Passover Programs
• Programs Reviews
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use

Lets Be Social

• Totally Jewish Travel on Facebook
• Totally Jewish Travel on Twitter
• Totally Jewish Travel on Instagram

1-888-717-4514 0871-666-0214 +34-942-637-358

Your Local Specialist Travel Advisors For Custom Tours in Spain & Portugal

• Experiences
• Accommodation
• Small Country Hotels
• Destinations
• How It Works
• Booking conditions
• Our Company
• Our Location
• The Totally Spain Team
• Our Service

Jewish Heritage in Spain 14 nights

This 14-night tour, with multiple expert guided tours, begins in Barcelona. In addition to seeing the Jewish sites in the Catalonian capital, you’ll take a day trip to see Girona’s perfectly preserved Jewish Quarter and on to Besalu to visit the mikvah. You’ll also have time to see Gaudi’s architecture before taking the high...

Prices from 5300 EUROS PER PERSON

MAP OF THIS ITINERARY

Trip Overview:

+ Read more

Trip Summary:

On this private tour you’ll travel to places that celebrate the Golden Age in Medieval Spain when the Spanish Jewish community lived and prospered in all of Spain’s great cities. You’ll visit many major locations on what is called ‘The Sephardic Way’ which is a cultural network reviving Spanish Jewish heritage. At...

Daily departures.

Arrive into Barcelona International Airport. Depart from Madrid or vice versa.

Totally Spain does not arrange International Flights so you have the flexibility to book the flights you prefer. We can recommend a travel agent with whom you can book your international flights if required. Otherwise a website such as Skyscanner is very useful for checking up-to-date flight schedules and prices.

This 14-night tour , with multiple expert guided tours, begins in Barcelona. In addition to seeing the Jewish sites in the Catalonian capital , you’ll take a day trip to see Girona’s perfectly preserved Jewish Quarter and on to Besalu to visit the mikvah. You’ll also have time to see Gaudi’s architecture before taking the high-speed train to Cordoba in Southern Spain to see the Jewish Quarter, the synagogue and the Mezquita . Then to Granada where you will explore the Realejo area and the splendid Alhambra Palace . Travel on to Seville to enjoy the large Jewish neighbourhoods including Barrio Santa Cruz . You’ll also see the Alcazar .  From there a short road trip driving yourself through the land of the Conquistadors to the walled city of Caceres where Jewish families flourished in the Barrio San Antonio. Continue to Plasencia where a thriving Jewish community existed in the 13th century in the Jaraíz suburb and where two synagogues are known to have existed. Next drive to Toledo and see the Transito Synagogue , walk the Jewish Quarter and visit the Sephardic Museum . And finally take the high-speed train to Madrid. Visits include the Prado Museum and the Royal Palace .

Please note that there is a functioning synagogue in Barcelona, in Madrid and in Seville too but no where else on  this itinerary.  Certified kosher food can only be obtained in Barcelona and Madrid. Unfortunately it is not available in any of the other locations on this tour.

On this private tour you’ll travel to places that celebrate the Golden Age in Medieval Spain when the Spanish Jewish community lived and prospered in all of Spain’s great cities. You’ll visit many major locations on what is called ‘ The Sephardic Way’ which is a cultural network reviving Spanish Jewish heritage . At each site, you’ll visit the Jewish Quarters and synagogues, museums and other relevant sites that illustrate the proud past this community shared up until 1492 when it was expelled by order of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. You’ll be guided at each location by an expert local guide who can provide you with an insight into the communities and can highlight the work that is being done to preserve these important sites today.

• Barcelona 3 nights
• Cordoba 1 night
• Granada 2 nights
• Seville 2 nights
• Caceres 1 night
• Plasencia 2 nights
• Toledo 1 night
• Madrid 2 nights

Tour Itinerary

Barcelona, Spain

Arrive in Barcelona International Airport. You’ll be met at the airport by your private driver who will transfer you to your centrally located 4-star Barcelona hotel.

Barcelona is without doubt one of Europes most exciting cities.  It is a place of extraordinary architectural dazzle, achieved by what has been called both Catalán Art Nouveau and Modernisme, by architects Gaudi, Domenech i Montaner and Puig i Cadafalch.  Monumental sculptures by local masters like Joan Miró adorn public spaces, and museums house extraordinary treasures ranging from works of the ancient Romans to those of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí.  The city is further enhanced by brightly colored outdoor markets, a magnificent Mediterranean port , and a plentiful array of stylish restaurants.  Needless to say, the nightlife is splendid.

This afternoon is at leisure to get settled in and adjusted to Spanish time. Activities & Services Included today

• Private transfer from Barcelona airport to your Barcelona hotel
• 4 star hotel accommodation in a standard room. Upgrade available on request

This morning after breakfast you’ll be met at your hotel by your expert local guide, who will escort you on a tour of the former Jewish quarter in Barcelona known as El Call (from the Hebrew for ‘kahal’ meaning community). As you walk your guide will bring to life the history of these medieval streets. You’ll learn where the original synagogue and the kosher butcher were located. It is believed that up to four synagogues were located in this city. You’ll be shown Hebrew letters and inscriptions on other buildings around the city. You’ll track the history of the community from a position of great respect in the 11th century to segregation in the 14th century and forced conversion or expulsion in the 15th.

After lunch (not included)  you are joined again by your guide and a driver. Your tour this afternoon is of Antoni Gaudi’s architecture.  You'll visit inside sights including Parc Guell and the Sagrada Familia (construction started in 1882 and still continues to this day!) before going to the Paseo de Gracia to see the exterior of La Pedrera ( Casa Mila) with your guide.  Afterwards you'll visit the interior independently at your leisure.

Activities & Services Included today

• Private full day tour in Barcelona with expert, English speaking guide (with a short break for lunch)
• Private chauffeur and car for half-day.
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for Sagrada Familia
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for Park Güell

Meals Included today

• Full Buffet Breakfast

Barcelona - Daytrip to Girona & Besalu, Spain

Daytrip to Girona & Besalu

Today you’ll visit the city of Girona and the town of Besalu. You’ll be collected by your private driver and guide at your hotel and continue to Girona.

The Jewish community in Girona dates back to 890 . It was a very important Jewish centre during the Middle Ages and it still has the best-preserved and most important Jewish quarter in Spain. The site was discovered accidently by a property developer. Some of the families expelled in 1492 had bricked off or closed off their properties believing they would return some time in the future. Catholic neighbours were reluctant to re-open these properties fearing they might be considered Jews themselves and so the area was entombed. In the late 1970s, when the old town was being re-gentrified, a land purchaser discovered the remains of Nahmanides’ yeshiva.

Your guide will take you from the main street (which was a Roman Road) to the archways and narrow paths between stone buildings. As you travel through the old walkways where the sunlight doesn’t reach – you will feel like you have walked back in time. In the heart of this quarter is a new educational and cultural complex called the Bonastruc Ca Porta Centre , which recreates Jewish life through art exhibits, musical events and food tastings. Surrounding a patio on the site of an ancient synagogue, the complex includes a Catalan Museum of Jewish Culture , the Institute for Sephardic and Kabbalistic Studies, and a library that houses important medieval Jewish manuscripts.

After lunch (not included) in Girona, you’ll travel to Besalu – a stunning town which first welcomed its Jewish community in the 9th century. In fact, Girona’s first Jewish community came from here.

Near the Mihah, where most Jews lived, you’ll see the site of the synagogue that was built in 1264. Although there are no remains of the synagogue, the place is still called ‘ Pla dels Jueus ’ or Place of the Jews.

You’ll visit the 12th century mikvah (ritual Jewish bath), one of the only three from the same period that have been kept in Europe – which was discovered in 1964. This mikvah is a stone room with 36 steps where strategically placed openings allow the rising river to flood it to the correct water level each spring and fall.

Return to Barcelona in the evening.

• Private chauffeur and car from your Barcelona hotel to Girona & Besalú
• Full day service of an expert, English speaking guide
• Pre-Booked entrance tickets for the Cathedral in Girona
• Pre-Booked entrance tickets for the Jewish Museum in Girona
• Pre-Booked entrance tickets for the Mikve in Besalú
• 4 star hotel accommodation in a standard room. Upgrade available on request.

Cordoba, Spain

Today following breakfast you'll be transferred from your hotel to Barcelona train station for your  high-speed train to Cordoba  famous for its well-preserved Jewish quarter and the mighty Mezquita (mosque-cathedral). A driver will meet you upon arrival and transfer you to your centrally located hotel.

Meet your expert local Cordoba guide  at your hotel and spend the late afternoon/ early evening exploring the city that was the great Moorish capital of Al Andalus. A walk around the old Jewish quarter gives the sensation that little has changed since the 10th century. Visit the Mosque-Cathedral or Mezquita which is without doubt one of the most famous constructions in all of Andalusia and is one of the largest mosques in the Islamic world. The original Mosque was built between 786 and 788 by Abd ar-Rahman, but over the centuries, many additions and extensions have been made. Following the Christian conquest it was consecrated as a Cathedral in 1236.

Visit the  Synagogue  built in 1314, a beautiful Mudejar building nearly perfectly preserved and the only synagogue in Spain from that time not to have been turned into a Christian building. See  Almodovar gate or ‘Gate of the Jews’  as it is known locally and the monument to the great Jewish doctor and philosopher,  Maimonides . You will also visit the  Casa Sefarad , a cultural project concerned with Judeo-Spanish culture, history and tradition that through it’s unique collection and cultural activities aims to make known the rich legacy of the Sephardic tradition. The exhibition on Sephardic food surprises most contemporary Spaniards who don’t know that staples such as ‘cocido’ stew is of Jewish origin.

Later at your leisure we recommend a walk to the  Roman bridge  across the  Guadalquivir river . You may wish to visit the  Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos  (Fortress of the Christian Monarchs) a Mudejar palace from 14th century with a beautiful Moorish garden complex, which served as the seat of the Inquisition´s Tribunal in the 15th century. Try to see a number of the beautiful courtyard patios also.

Note that the third week in June is when the annual  International Sephardi Music Festival  takes place in  Cordoba’s Botanic Gardens. 

• Private transfer from your Barcelona Hotel to Barcelona train station
• High speed train from Barcelona to Cordoba train station to your Cordoba hotel
• Private Half-Day Walking tour in Cordoba with expert, English speaking guide
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Mosque-Cathedral
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Synagogue
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for Casa Sefarad

Granada, Spain

This morning after breakfast you will be transferred to Cordoba Train station to take the high speed train across the Andalucian countryside to Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors in Andalusia. A private driver will meet you upon arrival and transfer you to your centrally located Granada hotel.

Granada is perhaps most famous for its exquisite Alhambra Place , a complex of palaces built around courtyards of flowering trees, pools and fountains.  It’s often hailed as the most exciting, sensual and romantic of all European monuments. Set on a wooded hill above Granada city, the Alhambra Palace was built in the 14th century by the sultans of Granada, rulers of the last Muslim kingdom in Al-Andalus. It reveals the brilliance and spirit of the Moorish culture in Andalusia at a time when the rest of Europe was only just beginning to emerge from the Dark Ages.

This afternoon you will be met by your expert local guide who will take you on a walking tour of the old quarter of Granada. You’ll learn that the Jewish community lived in Granada in perfect freedom until the first persecution in 1066 when the entire Jewish population fled or was killed. You’ll hear about the Treaty of Granada in 1491 ( signed by Queen Isabella and Emir Muhammas XII) that protected religious freedom and you’ll find out that it was revoked by the Alhambra Decree in 1492.  You'll also see the cathedral and Royal Tombs, burial place of the Spanish monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand, the so-called Catholic Monarchs.

You’ll be taken to the Realejo also known as the Juderia or Jewish Quarter during the Muslim period of rule. The old gates and walls have not survived but the upper parts of the Quarter retain some if its original labyrinthine layout – a feature of Moorish urban design. Here you'll visit Sephardic House - a privately-run Sephardic museum that opened in 2014.

• Private transfer from your Cordoba hotel to Cordoba train station
• High speed train from Cordoba to Granada - Tourist class
• Transfer from Granada train station to your Granada hotel
• Private Half-Day Walking tour in Granada with expert, English speaking guide
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Cathedral
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Royal Tombs
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for Sephardic House

Today, following breakfast, you’ll be transferred privately from your hotel to the Alhambra Palace to meet your expert guide for a peaceful private guided visit of the Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens .

This complex of palaces built around courtyards of flowering trees, pools and fountains is often hailed as the most exciting, sensual and romantic of all European monuments. It’s beauty shows the brilliance and spirit of the Moorish culture in Andalusia at a time when the rest of Europe was only just beginning to emerge from the Dark Ages. You will also tour the Generalife - the Summer palace and gardens of the Sultans. It is one of the oldest surviving Moorish gardens. Prepare to be wowed by the water features and courtyards.

This afternoon is at leisure to relax and enjoy Granada.  Perhaps go for lunch at a ‘ Carmen ’ (a traditional Granada house with a large garden of vines and fruit trees) with stunning views of the Alhambra in the Albaicin or maybe enjoy refreshments in the open air with some of Granada’s legendary tapas.

• Private transfer from your Granada hotel to Alhambra Palace
• Private Half-Day Walking tour of the Alhambra Palace & Gardens with expert, English speaking guide
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Alhambra Palace & Gardens

Seville, Spain

This morning, after breakfast and checking out, you’ll once again be met at your hotel by a private driver who will transfer you to Granada train station for your journey to Seville.  Upon arrival you'll be met by a private driver who will transfer you to your centrally located Seville hotel

This afternoon is at leisure. If you are interested in Mudejar buildings we recommend a visit to the Casa de Pilatos , completed in 1540 and situated in the Barrio Santa Cruz (the old Jewish quarter).

This evening you’ll attend a flamenco performance , the musical roots of which are many including Jewish, gypsy and moorish along with European and African influences.

• Private transfer from your Granada Hotel to Granada train station
• High speed train to Seville
• Private transfer from Sevilla train station to your hotel in Sevilla
• Pre-Booked Flamenco show in Sevilla (1 hour duration)

Your private guided visit today will focus on the history of the Jews not only in Seville but also in Spain.  Your guide will take you through the former Jewish Quarter that encompasses the neighbourhoods of Santa Cruz, Santa María la Blanca and San Bartolomé while providing you an insight into all aspects of Judaism in Seville - the first city in Spain to where the jews returned after 1860 and settled down again, creating the first jewish community of Spain following the expulsion in 1492.  Seville’s Jewish community, although very small today, was the second largest after Toledo.

Your tour of the key Jewish sites will include the Santa Cruz Square ; location of the old synagogue that became a Christian church after 1391 – it was sadly destroyed in 1811. You’ll visit the former synagogue-church of Santa Maria la Blanca – built in 1252.  You’ll also be shown the church of San Bartolome . It survived the fate of the previous two synagogues in the late 14th century but by 1490 was remodeled. You’ll also visit three gates – De la Carne, San Nicolas and Meson del Moro - which provided access to the Jewish Quarter. And you will be taken to the site of the Cano and Cueto cemetery also.

Following your tour enjoy lunch and afterwards enjoy an independent visit with pre-booked tickets to the stunning Alcazar, the site of the marriage between Carlos V and Isabel of Portugal in 1526. Every period from the Arabic to Mudejar, Renaissance, Baroque and more is on display in this UNESCO-listed site that is still used by the Spanish Royal Family when in Seville.

Later you may wish to learn a little about the city’s connection with the Discovery of the New World. We recommend a visit to the Indias Archive located in what used to be the Mercaderes Market built in 1572. Inside you’ll find many invaluable documents that give context to the first voyage of Christopher Columbus undertaken in 1492 (the same year of the expulsion) and the trade links that followed.

• Private Half-Day Walking tour in Sevilla with expert, English speaking guide (focused on the Jewish heritage)
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Alcazar

Caceres, Spain

Today, check out of your Seville hotel and you will be transferred to the rental car depot to collect your rental car.  Leaving Seville you head northwest into the region of Extremadura , land of the Spanish Conquistadors, to Caceres. Journey time is about 3 hours.  Native sons Pizarro, Cortes, De Soto and Balboa left this vast, beautiful and little-visited region that borders Portugal to conquer the New World.

This afternoon you will be met at your hotel by your expert local guide for a tour of Caceres.

Caceres, declared a World Heritage by UNESCO and surrounded by Moorish walls, is splendidly preserved. Its handsome ochre-coloured mansions – belonging to the noblemen of the 15th and 16th centuries who fought against the Moors and journeyed to the Americas as conquistadors – line the city streets and small squares. Plaza Santa Ana forms the heart of the old city. From the 13th to15th centuries, Jewish families lived and worked in the Barrio de San Antonio . Discover the narrow alleys of the old Jewish quarter and see the modest homes of the aljama (the Jewish district in medieval times) and the synagogue, now the Ermita de San Antonio. Tour Yusuf al-Burch’s House and Museum, where the private baths may be either Jewish ritual baths or Arabic. Stroll beneath the Roman Arco de Cristo and you’ll arrive at the Olivar de la Judería , or the Jewish Quarters olive grove. Outside the city walls, a new Jewish quarter was constructed in 1478, where nowadays the Palace of La Isla sits on the site of the former synagogue here.

• 6/7 days car rental. Standard size (Opel insignia or similar) Manual transmission
• Basic CDW/LDW unlimited mileage and theft waiver
• Private Half-Day Walking tour in Caceres with expert, English speaking guide
• Visit former synagogue, now the San Antonio hermitage. Tour Yusuf al-Burch’s House and Museum, where the magnificent private baths may be either traditional mikve (Jewish ritual baths) or Arabic.

Plasencia, Spain

After breakfast it is just a short drive of one hour to Plasencia, your next stop on this Jewish heritage tour.  However, we recommend that you take the longer route there going via Trujillo instead.  Trujillo is a charming town and birthplace of the conquistador, Francisco Pizarro , whose grand statue adorns the main plaza. It is known that in the second half of the 13th century Jews settled in Trujillo - 60 to 70 families - with names such as Bueno, Machorro, Cohen and Haluzo . The synagogue was located on Calle Tiendas number 8 now a shop called Maribel Calleja while the entrance to the synagogue is in the laboratory of the Pepe Solís pharmacy occupying number 10 and 12 of the same street.

After lunch continue to Plasencia and overnight.

• Car Rental as described previously.

This morning you are met by your local expert guide for a tour of Plasencia.

In Plasencia in the 13th century the Jewish community thrived.  The wealthy Jewish quarter of La Mota was situated in the northwest of the walled city. Its inhabitants came to own land or rent vineyards to work, according to the preserved documents of the 13th century. The houses of the Jewish quarter of La Mota were in the place that today occupy the stairs and the fountain of the Plaza de San Nicolás , approaching it from Santo Domingo el Viejo and Caldereros street. 

Numerous plaques can be seen in the city with the names of those Jewish families who once lived in Plasencia.

• Private Half-Day Walking tour in Plasencia with expert, English speaking guide

Toledo, Spain

This morning proceed by car to Toledo .  It's a two-hour journey roughly.  You'll drop off your rental car in Toledo.

This afternoon your local expert guide will take you on a tour of Toledo .

Toledo, the former capital of Spain and the stronghold of Castilian kings was, just before the expulsion, one of the leading centres of Jewry in Spain the `Jerusalem of the west ´. One of the most beautifully preserved medieval cities in all of Europe, it was the site of the famed ` school of translators ´ of King Alfonso `The Wise´ and here Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted in harmony for centuries. In the 14th century, after the Jews had been expelled, eight of the citys ten synagogues and its five Talmudic schools were destroyed. The remaining synagogues were converted into churches.  One was the Samuel Halevi Abulafia Synagogue known nowadays as Nuestro Señora del Transito. Built in 1357 it is full of Moorish carvings, arcades and a beautiful panelled wooden ceiling. Two years after the expulsion it became a Catholic Church and, since 1972, a Sephardic Museum with historic Hebrew inscriptions. The other is Santa Maria La Blanca ( formerly the Grand Synagogue ) which is now empty. It was built by Arabs in the 12th century and appears more like a mosque than a synagogue.  The previously mentioned School of Translators, where Jews used their knowledge of Arabic and Hebrew to translate philosophical and scientific works into Latin and Spanish, can still be seen in the Plaza Santa Isabel.

• Car Rental as described previously. Car returned this afternoon in Toledo.
• Private Half-Day Walking tour in Toledo with expert, English speaking guide (focused on the Jewish heritage)
• Pre-Booked entrance tickets for the Synagogue Santa Maria la Blanca
• Pre-Booked entrance ticket for the Synagogue of El Transito
• Pre-Booked entrance ticket for the Cathedral

Madrid, Spain

Today after breakfast you will be transferred to Toledo train station to take the high speed train to Madrid. A driver will meet you on arrival and transfer you to your centrally located hotel.

Madrid stands at the very centre of Spain –geographically, culturally and politically. Madrid capital not only offers the culture and good times of a sophisticated, modern city but it also retains the charm and elegance of its early years. The power and glory of Madrid is reflected in its parks, plazas, boulevards and in the pride and panache of today’s Madrilenos. For all its international veneer, however, the city remains thoroughly Spanish, and Old Madrid has been designed on a human scale rather than a monumental scale.

Among the splendid attractions of Madrid are the Prado Museum; home to masterworks of Goya, Velazquez and El Greco: the 19th century Villahermosa Palace now the Thyssen-Bornemizsa Museum; the Reina Sofia Art Centre showcasing more than 300 modern works by Dali, Miro &  Picasso among others; the 18th century Royal Palace on the lovely Plaza de Oriente; the bustling Puerta del Sol with its many shops, restaurants and tapas bars; Rastro Market on Sundays one of the oldest outdoor markets in Europe; and Retiro Park for strolling while admiring local artists and buskers.

The remainder of the day is at leisure.  Your pre-booked entrance ticket to the Prado Museum could be used this afternoon if you wish or tomorrow.

JEWISH MADRID

There is a small but active Jewish community in Madrid . The main centre is the Beth Yaacov Synagogue on Calle Balmes where there is a small history museum inaugurated in 2007 by the Jewish Community of Madrid that can be visited though a pre-booked appointment is necessary.  Its opening coincided with the 90th anniversary of the opening of the first synagogue in Madrid since the days of the Inquisition.  With its collection of photographs, documents and published materials, it provides information about the recent history of the Jewish Community of Madrid.  Visitors are reminded of what it was like for Jews to return to Spain after an absence of some 400 years. 

The Old Jewish Quarter of Madrid began to emerge in 1085, near the present-day Teatro Real and Calle del Arenal. Next to the Jewish Quarter or `juderia´was the cemetery, located in what is now Plaza de Oriente.  Three centuries later the bubonic plague forced the Jews to relocate to the New Jewish Quarter beside the Campo del Rey - Plaza de la Armería - where the Almudena Cathedral now stands. 

The monument to the victims of the holocaust was inaugurated in 2007 by Madrid City Council and the Jewish Community of Madrid and it is located in the Garden of the Three Cultures in Juan Carlos I Park.  It was designed by artist Samuel Nahon and architect Alberto Stisin.

Since 2008 the streets of Madrid have played host to Hanukkah celebrations, the Festival of Lights. The mayor of Madrid and dignitaries from the Jewish Community and Sefarad-Israel take part in the lighting of the candles on a day full of festive atmosphere with music, traditional peonzas (spinning tops) and buñulos (fluffy profiterloes)

Note that kosher cuisine is readily available in Madrid from several establishments near the synagogue.

• Private transfer from your Toledo Hotel to Toledo train station
• High speed train from Toledo to Madrid - Tourist class
• Private transfer from Madrid train station to your Madrid hotel
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Prado Museum (open date & entry time plus skip-the-line)

This morning you will be met by your expert local guide for a walking tour of Madrid .

Tour the historic Hapsburg Quarter and see Madrid’s magnificent plazas such as the Plaza de Oriente where you visit inside the Royal Palace , the Plaza Mayor , Puerta del Sol, the San Miguel market , Cibeles Fountain and more.

• Private Half-Day Walking tour in Madrid with expert, English speaking guide
• Pre-Booked Entrance tickets for the Royal Palace

After breakfast you’ll be collected at your hotel by a private driver who will transfer you to Madrid International Airport for your departure.

• Private transfer from your Madrid hotel to Madrid Airport

Please remember that this tour can also be done in reverse starting in Madrid and finishing in Barcelona.  It can also be used as a template for a custom trip should you wish to modify, add or subtract days to suit your schedule.

Additional Information

ORIGINAL & RELATED POSTS FROM TOTALLY SPAIN'S BLOG

Jewish Heritage Sights in Spain

Totally Spain's Guide to Extremadura

Must Sees in Andalusia

What to do in Madrid. 10 Things we love in Spain's Capital City

Guide to Gaudi's Barcelona

Share this:

GALLERY OF THIS ITINERARY

What's included

This trip includes.

Accommodation ( based on 2 people sharing )

• 14 nights accommodation in quality 4-star hotels in a standard room.   Upgrade options available on request.
• Full Buffet breakfast daily
• All private transfers from airport / stations as indicated above
• Car hire as described in itinerary on Day 9
• Half-day private driver in Barcelona (Day 2)
• ​ Full-day private driver for the Girona & Besalu tour
• ​High Speed Trains  (tourist class – upgrades available on request)
• Barcelona to Cordoba Cordoba to Granada Granada to Seville Toledo to Madrid

Private Guided Tours (half-day tours unless otherwise stated)

• Private Walking tour in Barcelona (morning) plus private tour of Gaudi sights (afternoon) with expert English speaking guide (includes transport + private driver in the afternoon)
• Private Excursion from Barcelona to Girona & Besalu with expert English speaking guide  (includes transport + private driver)
• Private Walking tour of the Alhambra Palace & Gardens with expert English speaking guide
• Private Walking tour in Granada with expert English speaking guide
• Private Walking tour in Cordoba with expert English speaking guide
• Private Walking tour in Seville with expert English speaking guide
• Private Walking tour in Caceres with expert English speaking guide
• Private Walking tour in Plasencia with expert English speaking guide
• Private Walking tour in Toledo with expert English speaking guide
• Private Walking tour in Madrid with expert English speaking guide 

Pre-Booked Entrance Tickets

• Barcelona – Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera (Casa Mila) & Park Güell
• Girona - Cathedral and Jewish Museum
• Besalu - Mikve
• Cordoba – Mosque/Cathedral , Synagogue and Casa Sefarad
• Granada – Alhambra Palace, Cathedral & Royal Tombs, Sephardic House
• Seville – Alcazar
• Toledo –Synagogue Santa Maria la Blanca, Synagogue of El Transito & Cathedral
• Madrid – Royal Palace & Prado Museum

Special Highlights

• Flamenco show in Seville (1 hr duration)
• Comprehensive personalized trip documentation including local maps, guides and tourist information
• Totally Spain's specialist trip planning service and support
• Spanish Government tax

NOT INCLUDED Flights, Personal Travel Insurance, Porterage (not commonly available in Spain), Tips, Meals, drinks or hotel extras other than those described above. Anything else not specified above.

Trip Overview

Trip summary.

Prices from

5300 EUROS PER PERSON

Contact us today to start planning your own personal adventure

1-888-717-4514

or request a callback »

The described itinerary is just a taster of what this trip could involve. We would work with you to tailor your personal trip.

Customer Reviews

Our honeymoon with Totally Spain was a dream come true, and it's all thanks to the exceptional service we received from their team. This was our first time using a travel agency, and we were blown away by how seamless and stress-free the experien...

A Davis & C Roth, Boca Raton, FL USA 2023-02-05

LIKE THE LOOK OF THIS ITINERARY OR SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR?

Then please contact us today so that we can customize this trip to suit your exact needs and dates of travel; and prepare a personalized proposal for you to consider. ENQUIRE ABOUT Jewish Heritage in Spain 14 nights »

Tour: Jewish Heritage in Spain 14 nights

Email Address:

Contact Telephone Numbers (optional):

Preferred Hours to Contact:

Are you Travel Agent?

Agency Name:

(e.g. if you want this exact same tour or a modified version, etc.)

Click here to see all of our tours

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER (Great offers, news and tales)

With Sephardic Routes, Spain connects with Jewish history

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

Girona , Spain

For Aida Oceransky, life as a Jew in Spain today isn’t the silent burden it used to be. When she emigrated here from her native Mexico in 1968, Oceransky didn’t dare talk about her family’s Ukrainian Jewish past. All the Jews she knew in the 1970s and ‘80s went to Mass. Even a decade ago, “you couldn’t find anything on Judaism in Spain — a magazine, a book, nothing,” she said.

Now, more than five centuries after Spain violently expelled its Jews, the country is experiencing a revival of interest in Sephardic heritage — and neither Oceransky nor the 40,000 other Jews living here feel as though they have to whisper about their identity.

In fact, Sephardic culture has seen a boom in Spain in recent years. There’s Noah Gordon’s international bestseller, “The Last Jew” (set during the Spanish Inquisition), and the 2004 Spanish comedy “Only Human”, as well as conferences, music festivals, and even restaurants specializing in Sephardic cuisine. The biggest splash is the government-sponsored initiative known as Caminos de Sefarad, or Sephardic Routes, a network linking 15 medieval Jewish cities across Spain on the first-ever travel itinerary through the diaspora in Spain.

Unlike Berlin and Prague, Czech Republic, and other European cities where a lost Jewish heritage has been a cultural steppingstone for years — and where old Jewish quarters, synagogues and cemeteries are almost mandatory tourist stops — the curiosity in Spain’s Jewish sites has grown up almost overnight.

A growing number of tourists is coming to Segovia, a city in Spain’s Castile region, not only to see its towering Roman aqueduct but also to get a glimpse of a rediscovered Jewish past. “People want to see the Jewish quarter because it’s practically unknown — and because they don’t expect it,” said Marta Rueda, a guide who once led former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres on a tour through Segovia’s old streets.

Granted, the Jewish cemetery stands on an unmarked hill opposite the town; the old synagogue has been turned into Corpus Christi Church; and about 100 Jewish homes were leveled centuries ago to make way for a vast Gothic cathedral. Nowadays, the most notable Jewish features of Segovia are its modern eateries, such as the Menora Café and El Fogón Sefardí restaurant. Nonetheless, the mere investigation of its Jewish legacy “is something new.”

“Even people from Segovia never learned about the Jewish quarter,” Rueda said. “Now people want to know their history.”

Spain’s relationship with its Sephardic legacy has in many ways been a centuries-long struggle against silence. In the Middle Ages, Jews played a major role in the country’s success — as astronomers, doctors, merchants and aides to the Catholic monarchy — until King Ferdinand exiled them and the Muslims with the expulsion edict of 1492.

In the 19th century, Jewish merchants started to trickle back in from Greece, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. They built the first modern synagogue in Madrid in 1916 and many fought on the side of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, which ended with Gen. Francisco Franco taking Fascist control of the country in 1939.

Decades of religious oppression forced the community into the background. It wasn’t until 1968, after laws had loosened, that the Spanish council of Jewish communities emerged, giving shape to the new community.

In more recent years emigration from Morocco and Latin America increased Spain’s Jewish population to about 40,000. In 1992, Franco’s successor, King Juan Carlos I, addressing members of a Madrid synagogue on the 500th anniversary of the Inquisition, formally welcomed the “return home” of Jews to Spain. Since then, Jewish culture, history and identity — like those aspects now visibly promoted on the Sephardic Routes — have enjoyed an almost reinvented status.

“Everything remained unrecognized about the Jews for so many years,” said Ana María López, director of the Sephardic Museum in the artist El Greco’s famed city of Toledo. The museum is adjoined to El Tránsito Synagogue, a masterpiece of 14th century architecture with ornate rafters and biblical wall inscriptions. Visits to the synagogue and museum have doubled in the last 10 years, now up to 300,000 annually, due to an interest that López believes signals a deeper change in Spaniards’ perceptions about their past.

“People realize there were others besides them — and that they were important,” she said.

That realization is partly the result of the Network of Jewish Quarters in Spain — Sephardic Routes, which has worked with government, schools and businesses to highlight Jewish heritage.

“This network is about bringing patrimony to light; it’s about rehabilitating the physical space and memory of Spain’s Jews,” said Assumpció Hosta, the general secretary of Sephardic Routes, from her office in Girona, 60 miles north of Barcelona. The organization began here in 1995, in this medieval Catalan city whose narrow, climbing cobblestone streets of the Call, or Jewish quarter, are considered among the best preserved in Europe.

For Girona and other small and medium-size cities like it — from Jaén in the south to Oviedo and Tudela in the north — there are also strong financial incentives for marketing the Jewish past. “The hotels are happier. The restaurants are happier. We couldn’t do this while Franco was alive, and when the country was still in poverty,” Hosta added. “We didn’t have Einstein, but we had [12th century rabbi and philosopher] Maimonides. Now there is a lot of curiosity.”

There is also, inevitably, some disappointment for travelers hoping to see more of Spain’s Sephardic past than what physically exists today. In the great walled city of Ávila, 50 miles west of Madrid, a medieval synagogue has been converted into a chic but cozy hotel named Hospedería La Sinagoga, with Sephardic-motif double rooms renting out for about $100 a night.

In Oviedo, the small Asturian capital near the north-central coast, 19th century architects built the Campoamor Theater over the Jewish cemetery, and only several plaques now stand demarcating the former — now unrecognizable — Jewish quarter.

Indeed, Sephardic Routes has its critics, especially from those who see a dangerous tendency in focusing on “the archeological Jew” and not paying enough attention to the living Jewish community of today.

“They talk about Jews without [their being] hardly any around,” said Nily Schorr Levinsohn, who works in media relations for Catalonia’s Jewish community of 6,000, based in Barcelona. Schorr Levinsohn thinks that Spain, burdened by guilt over its history with the Jews, now genuinely wants to reflect and learn about what it lost. But “today’s Jews aren’t a part of this process.”

Considering that only a few decades ago Spain still upheld laws forbidding Jews to practice their religion, the country has come a long way in reconciling with its anti-Semitic past. Nowadays Spaniards can tune into Radio Sefarad, read Jewish magazines and even catch a weekly culture TV show called “Shalom.”

Surveys by the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Democratic Committee still consistently show Spain as one of the most anti-Semitic countries in Europe. Blatant pro-Palestinian coverage in the press fuels the sense that many Spaniards are cool toward Israel and Jews in general. The Catholic Church to this day resists releasing documents about the lands and properties acquired from Jews after their expulsion in the 15th century.

That aside, the point is that on a broader level things have started to change as visitors to Spain, and the Spaniards themselves, are finally learning about the history of Sephardic Jews.

“For many years, people hid the story that connects Jews to Christians in Spain,” said Oceransky, who is the president of her 130-person Jewish community in Asturias. “Most Spaniards have never, never seen a Jew. Their only image is what they see about Israel on television and a few facts they learn about the Holocaust — mostly transmitted through the Catholic Church.

“What we want is that the people come to know us — to know what Jews are and to understand the marks Jews left here.”

More to Read

Column: Why many Latinos are calling for a cease-fire in Gaza

April 4, 2024

In Jerusalem, Palestinian Christians observe scaled-down Good Friday rituals

March 29, 2024

For some in Israel, a wartime holiday strikes a discordant note

March 26, 2024

Sign up for The Wild

We’ll help you find the best places to hike, bike and run, as well as the perfect silent spots for meditation and yoga.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Travel & Experiences

Want to see Disneyland’s most advanced animatronics? Visit Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

9 lovely walks to explore L.A.’s most beautiful bridges

April 3, 2024

How to watch the solar eclipse from California — and avoid heartbreak if chasing ‘totality’

World & Nation

Romania and Bulgaria join Europe’s Schengen travel zone but keep land border checks

March 31, 2024

• LET'S TALK
• LET'S EAT
• FAMILY & EDUCATION
• SOCIAL & PERSONAL
• JEWISH WORDS
• JEWISH HOW TOS
• RABBI I HAVE A PROBLEM
• EDUCATIONAL
• PROFESSIONAL
• THE FRESSER
• THE SCHMOOZE

Sign up to The JC newsletter

Beyond the costa del sol.

Venture off Spain’s beaten track to find luxury, history and the hidden Costa del Sol

BY Cathy Winston

• hotel review

It’s less than 40 miles along Andalucia’s winding mountain roads to reach Ronda from Marbella but it feels a world away from the beachy resorts of the Costa del Sol.

Famous for the soaring arches of its ‘new’ bridge, rising over 300ft above the Guadalevin river gorge, the town’s history pre-dates the Romans: later part of the Moorish kingdom of El Andalus, its Jewish quarter once stretched along part of the riverside.

Staying at the luxurious Anantara Villa Padierna Palace resort, itself almost precisely half-way between Marbella and Estepona, we’d made the most of the hotel’s Experience days out, dragging ourselves away from the pool, spa and beach club to explore some more of the Spanish countryside.

Surrounded by three national parks, including the Sierra de la Nieves biosphere reserve, the drive from the coast takes you ever higher into the hills, splashes of yellow flowers among the pines and the scent of Mediterranean herbs floating through the open window. From roadside viewpoints, you can see out to Gibraltar and Morocco beyond, as well as the whitewashed villages dotted in the valleys.

Along the way, countless rows of olive trees and vines produce the wines and olive oil for which Andalucia is known. Inspired by the area’s heritage, French design guru Philippe Starck is one of the driving forces behind La Almazara near Ronda, where you can pick and crush your own olives, as well as tasting the oil.

The route through the olive trees is dotted with art, while the buildings are given Starck’s own architectural twist — the new mill, opening in 2023, will be adorned with abstract bull’s horns, inspired by both local boy Picasso and the area’s bullfighting heritage.

ronda-chris-unger-DlEC02QXC0Q-unsplash

Ronda's new bridge (Photo: Unsplash)

In Ronda itself, you’ll find a museum dedicated to Picasso’s contemporary and friend, Joaquín Peinado — plus inspiration for your own photos around almost every corner. A string of viewpoints look out from the 18th century Puente Nuevo, which links the old city with the new town; there’s a small interpretation centre in the bridge itself too.

But for the best views, venture down into the El Tajo gorge to gaze back up at this elegant engineering marvel, one of several bridges crossing the chasm.

Instead, our steps led us through the old streets down towards the riverside and the Banos Arabes, the remains of the 13th century Arab baths. The Jewish community which once lived in the streets near here is long gone, but the old hammam is one of the best preserved in Spain.

A system of buckets and pulleys drew the water from the river up the hillside, to be heated by the wood-fired oven and pumped into the hottest room. Frequented by both men and woman (at separate times), visitors to the baths would have started here, after catching up with friends around the pool in the main reception.

arab-baths-den-harrson-Hg2JGbeW97A-unsplash

Arab baths (Photo: Unsplash)

A second warm room followed, before a cooler area to finish, with star-shaped openings in the roof letting in the light: outside under the shady trees, the gardens look up to the whitewashed buildings of the town above, with the faint sound of running water from the Guadalevin in the valley below.

The Puerta de la Cijara, once the city’s main gate, still stands nearby, as does the hilly path to the Casa del Rey Moro: despite its name, the buildings and gardens here date from several hundred years after the last Moorish king, although the water mine is older, another complex feat of hydraulic engineering bringing river water up the side of the gorge.

Ronda’s most impressive entrance has to be the Almocabar gate; rather prosaically a road junction runs past it today but the massive fortified walls still look impressively impregnable. One of the final cities to fall to the Reconquista, seven years before the expulsion of 1492, even Ronda’s hilltop position and imposing defences couldn’t hold out against the besieging forces however.

For an overview of the town’s past, the Mondragon Palace — once home to the town’s Moorish ruler, and where the victorious Ferdinand II (and possibly Queen Isabella) later stayed — now houses a string of exhibits on Ronda’s history. But after this race through the past, our own luxurious palace was tempting us back to the coast.

Anantara Marbella Ext MainBuilding FrontDay 1120-3

Anantara Villa Padierna Palace resort (Photo: Anantara Hotels)

The first property in Spain from Asian hotel group Anantara, the rose-coloured building at the heart of Anantara Villa Padierna Palace resort has its own timeless feel, but is only a couple of decades old, with the kind of five-star facilities that even a monarch might envy.

Our spacious Junior suite, one of 132 rooms and suites, looked out across one of the three golf courses open to guests — there’s a reason this part of Spain is also known as the Costa del Golf.

Tucked away beyond the resort’s Roman-style amphitheatre sit nine villas, the largest of which hosted Michelle Obama, complete with butler service and private pool.

Not that other guests are short of places to swim. The main pool is equally enticing whether you’re travelling with kids or want to relax in the shade of the palm and cypress trees; little fountains are dotted under the bougainvillea to the sides, as if you might have strolled from the Alhambra to your lounger.

Anantara Marbella Pool AcrossPool Day 1586-2

Pool (Photo: Anantara hotels)

Another heated indoor pool in the spa is for adults only, except for an hour every morning.

The spa itself is modelled on Roman baths with a thermal circuit (free for guests) featuring a string of different heated rooms, from Greek and Finnish saunas to scented steams and hammams, plus plunge pools and relaxation areas.

There are signature treatments too, including a one-hour massage with personalised oils — and, happily, a kids’ club during school holidays, so those on a family holiday can still make the most of the pampering.

You’ll find nods to classical civilisation around almost every corner. Among the 1,200 pieces of original art around the property are marble statues and busts galore, including a rather endearing stone lion just off the glass-roofed lobby.

Framed architect’s plans of Roman villas line some of the walls, along with antique furniture, Chinese porcelain lamps and travertine marble bathrooms in the rooms.

As well as the day excursions — including the option to travel by helicopter — a little shuttle runs from the resort to the beach club, making the 10 minute journey once an hour.

AnantaraVillaPadierna-BeachClub-Narrow-1200sRGB

Beach club (Photo: Anantara Hotels)

With jellyfish often claiming the waves along the coast from Malaga over the past few years, I made the most of the day beds on the edge of the sand instead, especially after indulging at the weekly Sunday brunch.

Alongside bottomless cava and a buffet spread across half a dozen groaning tables, there are freshly prepared fish dishes from the grill, plus specialities such as sea bass cooked in salt.

Otherwise, unless you book a day trip or taxi, there’s little within walking distance bar the golf courses. It was hard to care though, days alternating between pool and beach, plus the occasional saunter around the manicured grounds was the kind of routine I’d happily have followed indefinitely.

With several restaurants within the resort, you aren’t short of places to eat either. La Loggia, where breakfast is served every morning, transforms into an Italian restaurant at night: mushroom and truffle pappardelle was fabulous, as well as more fish options on this menu too.

Or choose between Japanese fusion at Sushi 99, the laid-back poolside La Pergola, with vines winding around trellises above the tables and lighter options at Hole 55, where an Indian street food pop-up is planned for this summer. All finished with cocktails at Eddy’s Bar, watching the sun set from the tables on the terrace.

It’s a long way from the classic image of a holiday on the Costa del Sol — but this is one Spanish secret which deserves to be shared.

Getting There

Deluxe rooms cost from around £275 per night at Anantara Villa Padierna Palace Resort , including breakfast.

The hotel is around one hour by car from Malaga airport, with return flights from various UK airports costing from £35. Transfers to the resort cost from around £145.

A day tour to Ronda costs from £680 including lunch.

For more day excursions in the area, visit marbellatrips.com

Like this? Sign up for more with our  JC Life newsletter here .

From fabulous recipes to parenting tips, travel and West End entertainment; insightful interviews and much more:  there’s more to the JC than news !

Save the date – the top things to do in the UK in 2024

Facing the past: Amsterdam's new Holocaust Museum

Florida’s hottest ticket - why you should visit Sarasota

The hills are alive with ancient traditions, in Austria’s Lungau region

Discover Jewish Tuscany – finding heritage hidden in the timeless hills

Have the JC delivered to your door

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details....

©2024 The Jewish Chronicle

• Advertising
• Terms & Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Privacy policy

Jewish Journal

Connect. inform. inspire., before traveling to spain, watch this documentary about a hidden jewish history.

• By Brian Fishbach
• Published January 5, 2024

Brian Fishbach

The next time you visit Spain, set aside a day to take a $20 flight from the mainland to the island of Majorca, a Spanish Island south east of Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

But before you do, make sure to watch the Menemsha Films documentary “Xueta Island: The Lost Jews of Majorca” which explores the hidden Jewish history of Majorca dating back almost 1,000 years.

Majorca is about the size of Puerto Rico, but not nearly as populated.

The documentary’s director, Dani Rotstein, has lived in Spain for nine years and now runs a tourism business, Jewish Majorca, offering Jewish history tours on the island in six different languages.

Rotstein grew up in a Jewish home in New Jersey. After spending 15 years working as a television commercial producer, he landed a job in Majorca. Though he had lived in Madrid for an entire year and had visited Ibiza many times, he never once visited the island of Majorca.

The documentary chronicles how Rotstein first learned about the Jewish history of Majorca when he visited an Orthodox shul. It’s an exciting journey of history and how a chance encounter led to a new life mission for Rotstein.

Rotstein was inspired by the island’s secret Jewish community, known as the Xuetas, who were forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition— but continued to practice Judaism in secret.

He was fascinated by the Xuetas’ determination to maintain their Jewish identity despite centuries of persecution.

The documentary also highlights the recent resurgence of Jewish life on the island over the last half century and a growing interest in Jewish heritage among the island’s residents.

While sometimes it’s spelled “Mallorca,” Rotstein says that he spells it with a ‘J’ because his tour company is “putting the ‘J’ back in Majorca.”

One fascinating part of the documentary is how during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, covert cooking was a way for the Jews to stay undetected while observing the laws of kashrut. In the challah department, to emphasize their “conversion” to Christianity, some Jews intentionally incorporated lard and pork fat into the bread, signifying their break from secret Judaism and their commitment to Catholicism.

And then there’s the Sabbath empanadas. They acted as a natural oven for cooking kosher ingredients like fish with scales and vegetables inside a bread—similar to a dumpling. They were prepared before Shabbat and this dish continued to cook slowly over the Sabbath, allowing it to be consumed without reheating or further cooking throughout the day. While pork was added to the top bread, it wasn’t directly mixed with the cooked contents. Instead, it was placed on top as a symbol. After returning to their homes, the pork would be removed before consumption, allowing the meal to be enjoyed without breaking the laws of kashrut.

“That’s how I’m dedicating my life, sharing the story with tourists, but also residents,” Rotstein told the Journal. “We go into public schools, tell the story of the history, we also talk about the Holocaust, and we’re trying to make Judaism more visible on the island. Luckily, now we can do that, without the Catholic church domination and Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. It’s finally a time where we can be open about our Jewishness.”

While the documentary goes into much depth about the Jewish history of Majorca, the Journal asked Rotstein several clarifying questions about the history and his journey as chronicled in “Xueta Island.” The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

JEWISH JOURNAL: What’s the 2 minute summary of what happened to the Jews of Majorca?

DANI ROTSTEIN : After 1391, when there was this terrible attack on the Jewish Quarter of Palma [on the island], not necessarily because they were Jewish just because the rural folk in the farmlands of Majorca were being heavily taxed and just had a famine. A lot of people were dying, also because of the black plague, things were not going well economically from Majorca. So what’s the first thing you do? You look for a scapegoat, you look for someone to blame. The rural people came to the city in Majorca and they went after the noble class and the authorities. They didn’t actually go after the Jews right away. They chased all of the wealthier upper class that lived in the city, the city dwellers, they chased them to the castle where they were safe. Since they couldn’t get to the noble class, the farmers said, ‘If we can’t get to the wealthy upper class, the Nobles, well, let’s go get to the next group of city dwellers— the Jews.’ The farmers destroyed Jewish Quarters all over Majorca.

JJ: You said there was a fact you learned recently that didn’t make it into the documentary.

DR : After this terrible destruction of the Jewish Quarter where 300 men, women and children were killed, the king actually went ahead and replaced the Jews that were killed. He paid for Jews from North Africa and Portugal to come live in Palma so they wouldn’t lose the Jewish community there. That says so much. That’s the only place in the world at this time where that happened. The people who had done the killing and the massacring were really like the general public. They were being told in the churches that the Jews killed Jesus and the Jews are bad and you have to try and convert them. The king, the upper class, knew how important the Jews were. They didn’t want to lose their Jewish community—the Jews were so financially important, they were all of the money lenders because they couldn’t do anything else. So that was one of the jobs that they had, yeah. Some Jews went to North Africa. In 1435, about forty years later, there was another massacre. But this time, instead of being killed, the Jews were allowed to convert. So I don’t know about you, but for me, if I had the option of dying or converting, I’m gonna choose conversion.

JJ: How did this Jewish community have a resurgence?

DR :  British Jews who started this synagogue 50 years ago. I was shocked to hear that in Catholic Spain, under Francisco Franco’s rule, there were these tiny Jewish communities basically in Madrid, Barcelona, and Majorca. In about 1971 British Jews bought a plot of land for British expats that were living there for a Jewish cemetery. They just did things like Passover and Rosh Hashana and some big holidays in a hotel that they had timeshares in. It wasn’t until 1987 that they actually opened up the synagogue that you see in the film.

JJ: Tell us about the first synagogue experience you had in Majorca.

DR : I moved there thinking that I was gonna be the only Jewish person on the island. Then I got there not knowing anyone and, speaking to friends at work at this production company I was working at. It turns out that there is a synagogue that someone told me about. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if it was going to be a Sephardic one or Ashkenazi transplants. It ended up being Ashkenazi transplants. So I went to this synagogue, and it wasn’t very welcoming at first. It was very hard to find it. There wasn’t a Facebook page, not even a website. It was just kind of like this undercover synagogue. I go inside and there’s no rabbi, it’s just like the volunteers leading the prayers. It’s an Orthodox shul. They said that they didn’t have a minyan so we had to skip the kaddish. They said there aren’t ten Jewish men, but I counted 14 men in the men’s section. I was pretty sure that the global number for minyan is 10. I asked the guy next to me, why are we skipping when there’s obviously a minyan? And he looked at me and said that not all of these men are Jewish. Some of them are Xuetas. I never heard that word before. He told me that the Xuetas are Catholic descendants—the Jewish Conversos of Majorca.

JJ: What was going through your mind when you first heard this? DR : “You’re telling me there’s Catholics who are going to synagogue and not counting as a minyan and they come every Friday?” I was really blown away by this tiny island in the Mediterranean that not many people heard about. I was really intrigued and it took me along this journey of wanting to discover more about this specific, Jewish history of this random island in the Mediterranean called Majorca.

JJ: What are common reasons for people to move to the island?

DR : It’s a beautiful place, obviously, great health and wellness opportunities. There’s lots of retreats. A lot of yoga people go there for spirituality, training, like if you’re a big cyclist, you’re gonna want to visit Majorca. Generally good weather. If you’re a beach bum, you’ll love that place. And Myorca tends to be one of the more international cities all over Spain. After all, it has Spain’s third largest airport after Madrid and Barcelona.

Xueta Island will be screened throughout Los Angeles in early 2024. For showtimes, go to

https://xuetaislandthemovie.com/ .  To set up a tour with Rotstein and Jewish Majorca, go to their website: https://jewishmajorca.com/

Did you enjoy this article?

You'll love our roundtable., editor's picks.

Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review

The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC

What Ever Happened to the LA Times?

Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?

You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House

No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center

Latest articles.

Joseph Lieberman’s Legacy: A Courageous Voice for Iranian Democracy

‘Cooking for a Cause’ Cookbook Supports Leket

LA Federation Holds Entertainment Event, OC Federation Honors Women Philanthropists, Mensch Foundation Ceremony

Complaint: UC Davis Failed to Take Action Against Antisemitism on Campus

The Laws of Creature Eaters – A Poem for Parsha Shemini

Umbraphiles and Poets Put into the Shade by their Wifely Shidduch

Sweet silan memories: a juicy roast beef, liz claman: a proud jew at fox business, pj library podcast network passes one million downloads, kosha dillz and or mash team up for ‘watermelon’.

A Bisl Torah – Journey to the Promised Land

Although the journey is arduous and long, we too must believe freedom is coming.

A Moment in Time: “What is a Reform Jew?”

Being Reform is not about what we don’t practice. It’s about what we do practice.

Print Issue: Prince of Truth | April 5, 2024

Through his books and essays and ubiquitous presence on panels, debates and media interviews, Douglas Murray has devoted his career to the art of seeking and spreading the truth.

JFSLA Brings Joy to Holocaust Survivors with Café Europa

The volunteers at Café Europa are stalwarts who have been coming to the weekly gatherings for years.

Prince of Truth

Spielberg Says Antisemitism Is “No Longer Lurking, But Standing Proud” Like 1930s Germany

Young Actress Juju Brener on Her “Hocus Pocus 2” Role

Behind the Scenes of “Jeopardy!” with Mayim Bialik

Joel Haber: 18 Jewish Foods Podcast and Hamin Kharshuf aka Chulent

Katie Workman: The Mom 100, Comfort Food and Ground Turkey Tacos

More news and opinions than at a shabbat dinner, right in your inbox..

Synagogues, cemeteries, and settlements: Spain’s hidden Jewish heritage

The expulsion of the jews in 1492 buried homes and synagogues standing for more than a thousand years in the iberian peninsula.

Born in 1352, Salomón Haleví was not only a member of a Hebrew family in charge of collecting taxes for the kingdom of Castile, but also the chief rabbi of Burgos. Around 1390, when the Jewish community was about to be massacred, he converted to Christianity and became Pablo de Santa María, bishop of Cartagena. Haleví's life has much in common with what happened to Hebrew heritage in the Iberian Peninsula. Rather than being wiped out altogether, it underwent a transformation, as was confirmed last February when work on a nightclub in Utrera, Seville, exposed a spectacular synagogue about whose existence little was known.

It was not the first Jewish monument to be stumbled upon. In 2002, within the walls of the castle in Lorca, in the southeastern region of Murcia, another Hebrew temple was found. In 2010, while remodeling the church of Santa María la Blanca in Seville, the remains of a 13th-century synagogue were discovered, while two years later, in Segovia, a Jewish cemetery dating back five centuries was uncovered during the construction of a sewer. It is a cultural and architectural heritage existing in many Spanish and Portuguese cities that is sometimes difficult to detect, even when walking through a medieval quarter.

It all began in 586 B.C., when the Babylonian armies of Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem and put an end to biblical Israel. The majority of the city’s inhabitants were taken prisoner and dragged to Babylon, while the survivors were scattered, as a great diaspora, throughout the Mediterranean. “When the temple was demolished, Judaism was left without an architectural place of reference and resurfaced as a thought or belief system,” explains Nuria Morere, professor of history at King Juan Carlos University in Madrid.

In the documents preserved from the Synod of Elvira in Granada at the beginning of the 4th century, there is already evidence of a Jewish presence in Hispania. These were immigrants who sought resources for survival on the Mediterranean coast, mainly in Elche and Tarragona, but also in the larger cities such as Mérida, in what is today western Spain. “Basically, when a people have no roots, they dedicate themselves to ephemeral things, such as trade, which [in the case of the Jews] would remain stable until the Middle Ages, when they began to work as moneylenders for the monarchs, although they developed all kinds of trades,” Morere explains.

León Benelbas, former president of the Jewish Community of Madrid, agrees that “the main Hebrew contribution to the Iberian Peninsula was cultural. The Golden Age of Judaism took place in medieval Spain, something which is recognized across the world,” he says. “There was little they could contribute from the patrimonial point of view because they lacked territory and lands as they could not get their hands on a duchy or a marquisate, irrespective of the merits accumulated. Then, the synagogues, the assistance centers, the neighborhoods they built either disappeared or were transformed when they were expelled in 1492 .”

In general, Jewish neighborhoods were very similar to those of the Christians and Muslims, but with certain touches specific to their culture. At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, Jews flocked from the countryside to the cities, where they specialized in trade and crafts. “Ranging from the most humble to the most refined artisan activity, there was no trade that was not practiced by the Jews of Sepharad,” says historian Andreu Lascorz.

It is an opinion shared by architect Abraham Hassan, who is currently holding an exhibition on synagogue architecture at the Sefarad-Israel Center in Madrid: “Jewish architecture in the Iberian Peninsula is nothing more than an adaptation of what already existed in Spain,” he says. “With the odd exception, they did not create large buildings. The magnificent Hebrew architects are contemporary, not medieval.”

The Jewish quarter was, according to Lascorz, the neighborhood “of the entire community where most of its activities took place. It was the Hebrew city managed down to the smallest detail by the leaders,” he says. “The Jewish quarters mostly had gates which were closed at night as a precaution and also at Easter to protect against assaults or, at other times, against violent outbreaks such as those in 1348 and 1391.”

It is known that there were stable settlements in large cities such as Alcalá de Henares, Barcelona, Burgos, Cáceres , Córdoba, Girona, Granada, Guadalajara, Jaén, Palma and Zaragoza, as well as in smaller municipalities such as Rivadavia, Tui, Plasencia and Tarazona. Scholars estimate that at its peak in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Jewish community swelled to 250,000 in an Iberian Peninsula with a population of around 4.5 million.

The El Tránsito synagogue, alternatively known as the synagogue of Samuel ha-Levi, located in Toledo, has, according to Benelbas, “no parallel in Europe or even in the world. Not even in the Holy Land is there such a monument.” It is a 14th-century building, erected by Samuel ha-Levi, treasurer during the reign of King Peter I. It was built in the Mudejar style and is known for its Great Prayer Hall, and features multi-foil arches, polychrome stucco-work, Arabic inscriptions and quotations from the Psalms as well as plant and heraldic motifs of the kingdom of Castile.

After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain by the Catholic monarchs , Jewish assets were kept by the Church and converted to its needs. For example, the synagogue of Samuel Levi Abulafia was transformed into a hospital, which miraculously saved it from being reduced to rubble. Something similar happened with the Greater Synagogue of Toledo, which became the church of Santa María la Blanca. “These are real gems,” says Benelbas. “Their existence is exceptional, because the Jews were not allowed to build.”

The existence of Jewish quarters, however, is more common as their layouts and houses are preserved in the historical areas of medieval Spanish and Portuguese cities, such as Córdoba, Seville, Girona, Toledo and Saporta. Within these quarters, the men worked as gunsmiths, butchers, carpenters, locksmiths, merchants, pharmacists, booksellers, notaries, tailors and silversmiths, while the women worked as midwives, spinners, washerwomen and weavers. The most prestigious jobs were those of kabbalists, cartographers, scientists, philosophers, geographers, poets, polemicists, Talmudists, translators, and doctors.

Lascorz explains that “the homes in a Jewish quarter were no different from other Christian and Moorish dwellings.” In the Jewish quarters there were “synagogues and oratories, as well as schools, baths, hospitals, bakeries, wine cellars, butchers, markets, squares and taverns. And in the most important Jewish quarters: brothels. The cemeteries were built outside the cities for religious reasons,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Morere says that the Jews “were no different from the rest of the population. The difference was created by us, by Christianity, by Catholicism, but it was not in fact so real in the society of that era. The real change came later with the creation of the ghettos, in response to a 19th-century line of thought based on the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which argued that the Jews were a source of evil in the world.” In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the professor insists, “they were only a minority, with a religion not too different from Christianity, but the Church decided to distance itself from Judaism and, gradually, segregation took root.”

Nevertheless, Jews continued to arrive in the peninsular Christian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages. According to the experts: “There had been expulsions in Europe and the Almohad and Almoravid empires were still at war [in the south of the Iberian peninsula] which caused many to emigrate north to Christian territories. Some monarchs persecuted them and others protected them.” The end came with the Catholic monarchs, who were determined to achieve an absolute monarchy for which they required a cast-iron Catholicism.

Benelbas explains that to avoid being expelled, many Jews argued that they had been in the Peninsula for thousands of years : since about two centuries before the death of Christ. “A naïve and desperate argument used to contend that if they were in Spain before the beginning of the Common Era [I B.C.], they had nothing to do with what others had done.” It is estimated that about half of the Jews in the Peninsula, amounting to 100,000, refused to embrace Christianity and were expelled.

In 1432, Salomón Haleví, aka Pablo de Santa María, finished his greatest work, Scrutinium Scripturarum , a controversial treatise, according to the Royal Academy of History; with only 60 years remaining before the definitive expulsion of the Jews, it sketched an open dialogue between a Christian and a Jew. In it, the author highlighted the “errors” of the Hebrew religion. So convinced was he by his new faith that almost his entire family converted to Christianity . His son Gonzalo, for example, was named bishop of three dioceses, another descendant became Alonso of Burgos, and his granddaughter, Teresa de Cartagena, entered a convent and became one of the great authors of Castilian literature. Like the monuments recently uncovered, Haleví left little trace of his Jewish origins.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition

More information

Humans were already sewing their clothes nearly 40,000 years ago

Primo Levi, a suicide wrapped in shadows

Archived in.

• Francés online
• Inglés online
• Italiano online
• Alemán online
• Crucigramas & Juegos

Jewish learning Why Spain? Why Now? Join Hebrew College’s Jewish Discovery Tour of Spain

As we live in a time of strained interfaith relationships, can Spain provide a distant mirror for intergroup relations in our time?

When we think about Jews and Spain, one date looms large—1492 and the expulsion of the Jews. But there is so much more to see and experience. In southern Spain (Al Andalus) for hundreds of years, Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together, translated classics together, fought side by side, wrote poetry on common themes and built buildings that merged Muslim architecture with Jewish motifs. Travel to Spain enables us to see a land where converso culture continues to exert influence (sometimes hidden, sometimes openly) and to reimagine what might have been. As we live in a time of strained interfaith relationships, can Spain provide a distant mirror for intergroup relations in our time?

In Barcelona and Girona we will see the traces of a vibrant culture of science and the arts in which Jews were full participants, as doctors and viziers, soldiers and writers, philosophers and legalists. Travel to Spain enables us to locate this rich (and lost) Jewish world in the context of the beauty of modern Spain. From Don Quixote’s windmills to Gaudi’s architectural creativity to the masterworks at the Prado in Madrid, our trip touches base in the past and the present, including meeting the Jewish communities that will welcome us for shabbat.

Today, more than ever, we need to find models for reshaping the Jewish future in a pluralistic world. Join us for the journey

Together we’ll explore and learn about Jewish Sepharad. This trip will led by Me’ah faculty, Rabbi Leonard Gordon, Me’ah Co-Director, Terri Swartz Russell, Kayla Ship from Keshet Educational Journeys, and local guides in Spain.

Check out the full tour itinerary, pricing and details here .  Please contact Terri at Me’ah [email protected] or Kayla Ship at Keshet [email protected] with any questions.

• community education
• Adult Learning

recommended posts

Faculty rabbi rachel adelman featured in exodus docudrama on netflix, leviticus the eighth day, community blog legacy unveiled: reveling in the art and life of frances miller.

• Search for a holiday home
• Spain information
• Advertise property

In order to give you the best search results, please select a destination before searching, e.g. "Costa del Sol" or "Barcelona"

In order to give you the best search results, please select an arrival and return date before searching.

More search options

A Trip to the Jewish Quarter of Seville, Spain

The Jewish Quarter of Seville is the ultimate place to retrace the footprints of Jewish history in Spain. The exploration of this district is as crucial as the Royal Alcazar  or Plaza de España  in the fulfilment of the Sevillian experience. This entire neighbourhood is a must-see  when visiting the city.

Follow the twisting paths of this area and let your curiosity enjoy the many marvels that this neighborhood has to offer.

History of the Jewish Quarter

The Jewish district began with the construction of a wall during medieval times that separated Jews from the rest of the city. This fence begins at Tintes street and travels through Mercedarias square until ending at Mateos Gago.

In 1248, Seville was conquered by the Christians, who warmly-welcomed the Jewish population. As this society became increasingly adept, the Christian population no longer needed the money or the assistance of the Jewish people and relations grew tense.

Enough hatred was fostered to incite disaster in 1391, when the entire Jewish community was attacked and their synagogues were converted to churches. Thousands of Jewish lives were lost.

A dark history of deceit, destruction and death creates an unshakable feeling that hangs in the air within the walls of the Jewish Quarter of Seville. Given the quaint charm that defines this area, visitors will find it hard to believe such history.

Barrio de Santa Cruz

Cobbled streets, white-washed houses, cute shops and many dining spaces largely account for the widespread recognition of this particular Jewish neighborhood in Seville.

Visit the covered passageway heading off the Patio de Banderas Juderia and the Pasaje del Agua, which is named after a watercourse running along the top of the wall. Orange trees will frame your journey as you explore the many hidden passageways, gardens, and churches within this area.

The main sights include the Cathedral and the Giralda Bell Tower , the Alcazar, and the Archivo de Indias.

Barrio de San Bartolomé

Situated between the Puerta Carmona and the Puerta de la Carne, this neighborhood is often overlooked despite its unique charm. The central square, Plaza de Las Mercedarias, is surrounded by many attractions including Content de las Mercedarias and the former Parish church of Barrio de San Bartolomé El Viejo.

Wander these streets and take in the haunting atmosphere. Tragic love stories, historic street names, and hidden symbols decorate this labyrinth of snaking streets.

Exploring the Jewish Quarter

There are many options to help make the most of your adventure through history in the Jewish Quarter of Seville.

Apart from the wealth of information available online, the Centro de Interpretación de la Juderia is a museum located within the Santa Cruz district that exists to recover and to value Jewish culture. For only 6.50 € , enter the museum Monday to Saturday from 10:30 until 15:30 or Sunday from 10:30 to 18:30 to understand the boundaries of the city, its history, its characters and their stories.

There are also many tours available that will guide you through the maze of streets and provide historical information. These tours vary in length and price depending on what you wish. Consult online reviews or visit the local tourism office for more information.

Otherwise, grab a map of the city and take your time exploring the Jewish Quarter. We advise making a loose plan to visit several notable sites within the area; shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among many fantastic tapas bars  and charming courtyards that are nestled within the streets.

Bring some cash, a camera, a map and your curiosity.There are many little restaurants, bars and shops worth checking out. If you would prefer packing your own lunch, there are many courtyards and benches that would accommodate a charming picnic.

Getting to the Jewish District

The Jewish District of Seville is located around the Cathedral of Seville , so arriving is a similar process.

The exploration of these neighbourhoods in indisputably best done on foot.

Explore this charming district located in the heart of Seville, Spain and allow the haunting charm of history occupy your afternoon.

Get JTA's Daily Briefing in your inbox

I accept the JTA Privacy Policy .

By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org

In Spain, small towns are unearthing ancient synagogues to resurrect Jewish history — and attract tourists

MADRID ( JTA ) — Beneath a sprawling 14th-century building with moss-furrowed terrace walls and interiors painted in garish strokes of purple and yellow lie what could be the remains of Spain’s second-largest synagogue from the medieval era.

The 7,500-square-foot estate, currently being explored by researchers and archeologists, is nestled in a narrow alley in Utrera, a small city in the Seville province in southwest Spain. It sits covered with the geraniums popular in the city’s historic Jewish quarter.

The property has had a lengthy and multifaceted history as a hospital, in the 17th century; a Catholic chapel; an orphanage, and most recently, in the 20th century, as a school, a restaurant and a cocktail bar.

But the city council bought the now abandoned property in 2018 and launched an archaeological excavation project last February, with the hope of uncovering a synagogue that was pushed underground over the centuries. 

A view of a street in Utrera’s Jewish Quarter. (Utrera City Council)

The goal is not only to preserve and foster Jewish history and culture — something the country’s government has prioritized in recent years in order  to rectify its dark Inquisition history .

As COVID-19 continues to hurt tourism worldwide, Spain is looking to stay one of the most visited countries on the planet . And ancient synagogues can be tourist draws, especially for smaller towns that lack them.

Uncovering the synagogue “would put our town on the world map, alongside cities such as Seville,” said José María Villalobos, Utrera’s mayor and the project’s lead supporter. “This would be a powerful appeal for Utrera as a major touristic destination.”

Utrera is far from alone in mining its Jewish past. Starting well before the pandemic, governmental and private interests at the regional and municipal levels have been attempting to unearth, restore and display Jewish heritage sites from the Middle Ages.

“In terms of cultural heritage, Spain has undergone an enormous transformation since the end of the 1980s, with an upsurge in archaeological interventions associated with the booming construction industry,” said Jorge A. Eiroa, professor of medieval history at the University of Murcia. He explained that synagogues often appear when grounds are excavated during construction.

Over several centuries, Sephardic Jewish communities in Spain left a striking medieval architectural legacy. Their former synagogues are jewels of artistic and cultural heritage that illustrate the splendor and prosperity of Spain’s medieval Jewish communities.

But after 1492 — the year Jews were expelled from Spain through the Inquisition — most were abandoned, and many were built over or subsumed into other buildings. Some of the few prominent ones left intact today were repurposed into Roman Catholic churches, such as El Tránsito and Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo, the Córdoba synagogue   and Corpus Christi in Segovia. (Some of those, ironically, have recently turned back into Jewish-themed entities, as museums and cultural centers that educate about Spanish Jewish history.)

Want more international stories in your inbox? Sign up for JTA’s Around the World newsletter.

Many synagogues across Europe have been transformed over the centuries. In 2018, a British organization called the Foundation for Jewish Heritage launched an interactive map that identifies and categorizes them, showing how their functions have changed — some are now shops, restaurants, sports facilities and even funeral parlors.

Many Jewish sites of worship scattered throughout the Spanish peninsula, however, are hidden underground with no documented evidence of their existence. 

“When a synagogue is converted into a church, any Jewish vestiges are promptly removed,” said Eiroa, explaining the difficulties of tracking down the old synagogues. “If we are lucky, the Torah ark is transformed into a small altar, as in the case of Córdoba,” and thus preserved.

Miguel Ángel de Dios, one of the archaeologists working on the Utrera project, is confident that he will discover an underground synagogue. His team is looking for religious Jewish “traits” — including clues that show if the site was divided into men’s and women’s sections.

“We still have no idea if the synagogue is there or not and what state it is in. But, if we find it, we believe a mikveh, or ritual bath, should be located outside the prayer room, as well as some sort of building for the women’s gallery,” de Dios told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It may not have been preserved, but we can certainly seek for traces of some kind of distinction between men and women.” 

About 170 miles northeast, in the ancient city of Úbeda, stands another formerly unknown synagogue with a medieval mikveh, or ritual bath, which gives it a nickname: the Synagogue of Water.

Buried under the bedrock of the city’s surrounding houses, the synagogue lay undisturbed until it was accidentally unearthed in 2007. Its discovery astonished the property’s owners, who were developing apartments for tourists and a parking lot.

A view of the main hall of the Synagogue of Water in Úbeda, Spain. (Andrea Pezzini)

Primary owner Fernando Crespo quickly understood the site’s cultural significance — and its tourism potential — and halted the construction projects. After three years of excavations and restorations, the synagogue opened its doors to the public as a museum in 2010.

“It was a great surprise to all of us, to find this magical place — a striking discovery, a journey through history,” said Andrea Pezzini, head of the company Artificis, a tourism company that now manages the synagogue.

The Synagogue of Water is divided into seven interconnected chambers, including the well-preserved mikveh. The pool, situated on the lowest floor, was carved into natural rock and is illuminated by picturesque beams of natural sunlight, giving it a mystical quality. For centuries, natural water from a well has flowed through it, renewing itself every day. Scholars believe that there is only one other record of a similar natural mikveh in Spain, in the small Catalonian town of Besalú .

Photos of the mikvah at the Synagogue of Water in Úbeda, Spain. (Joaquín Fruiz)

Before COVID, the Synagogue of Water had about 27,000 visitors per year; during the first pandemic year, that dropped to 10,000.

The Lorca Synagogue in Lorca, located in the southwestern Murcia region, was discovered in 2003 during the building of a hotel. But it wasn’t discovered underground — it was tucked away in a medieval fortress.

The castle, which sprawls throughout the historic Alcalá neighborhood, has stood since sometime between the ninth and 15th centuries. The synagogue is the only one known to have been found with an intact bimah, the raised platform where services are held, and Torah ark.

“Such ritualistic remains are preserved in those synagogues that become uninhabited and unoccupied,” Eiroa said. 

Archaeologists found over 2,600 fragments of glass, which they used to reconstruct 27 lamps formerly used to light the temple. Today they are displayed in the city’s Archaeological Museum, next to other fragments of hanukkiot, ceramics, buckles, rings, and coins, which educate visitors about the everyday life of Lorca Jews and how they celebrated their festivities over 500 years ago.

Lamps found during the excavation of the Synagogue of Lorca are displayed in the Municipal Archaeological Museum of Lorca. (Museo Arqueológico Municipal de Lorca)

Other recently discovered synagogues include Guadalajara’s Synagogue of Molina de Aragón, which sits only as a pile of ruins for now, and Teruel’s Synagogue of Híjar. In the latter case, rehabilitation work was completed in early 2021 but a date to open to the public has not been determined.

Eiroa said the growing emphasis on recovering Jewish heritage sites will only continue to surge, as municipalities continue to capitalize on their connections to Sepharad, as its Jews referred to Spain in Hebrew. 

“It is quite evident that Sepharad’s past has always been a very appealing and captivating asset and from a heritage point of view very attractive to city councils and autonomous communities,” he said.

Share this:

Recommended from jta.

First Jewish sheriff of Nottingham, office of Robin Hood fame, is sworn in at his synagogue

Leading American medical journal faces down its own history of endorsing Nazi race science

Germany will redesign the numbers on its national soccer jersey after realizing they look like a Nazi symbol

Israeli president adds final letter to wartime Torah for Ukrainian Jews initiated by Zelensky

In the Spanish town of León, locals toast Easter with a ‘Kill Jews’ cocktail

On the first anniversary of Evan Gershkovich’s arrest, Biden says his detention will ‘cost’ Russia

Jewish Spain: 2,000 years of heritage and counting

The golden age of spanish jewry saw great poets, authors, astronomers, physicians and religious scholars. in most cases, there is little to see today of this great past..

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

In Spain, a Family Reunion, Centuries Later

By Doreen Carvajal

• April 4, 2014

At twilight, I roamed a honey-colored labyrinth of brick houses in Segovia’s medieval Jewish quarter, walking a cobblestone path in the footsteps of my distant ancestor from 16 generations ago.

In the shadows, I reminded myself that every element in his story is true: a Vatican power struggle; an Inquisition trial that confused our family’s religious identity for generations; and a neighborhood infested with spies, from the queen’s minions to the leather maker and butcher.

I was hunting for documents, landmarks and even medieval recipes that could bring to life the family history of Diego Arias Dávila, a wealthy 15th-century royal treasurer to King Enrique IV who was loved and loathed for the taxes he extracted. Call it ancestral tourism, a quest for roots, branches and a family reunion across centuries. 

My quest was inspired, in part, by the ancient Spanish custom of Holy Week religious processions: brotherhoods of penitents in robes and peaked hoods that for centuries marched through the narrow lanes in different regions in cities like Seville, Málaga and   Segovia. The first time I saw them was in the south of Spain, passing an old Jewish quarter of whitewashed houses where the images plunged me into a medieval era when inquisitors in anonymous hoods confronted suspected heretics, including my own ancestors.

During Easter week, the brotherhoods in Segovia, in central northern Spain, parade with lifelike wooden sculptures of Jesus and Mary past the Gothic cathedral in the center of town and the illuminated Alcázar, the towering castle of the kings of Castile and León.

I feel shivers of the past each time I walk the path along the limestone ramparts — facing the dusky blue Guadarrama mountain range. Perhaps in some ways I know the Arias Dávila family better than my own generation. When I learned their fate, I felt my own identity shatter and shift, changing who I am. 

Their dramas are preserved in Inquisition folder 1,413, No. 7, in handwritten script and housed in the Madrid national archives. Almost 200 pages are devoted to their daily habits, gleaned from neighbors turned spies — wedding rituals, burial clothes, prayers and frequently the adafina lamb stew of chick peas and cinnamon they savored, slow cooked on hot embers overnight and served on the Sabbath.

For these rituals, Diego Arias Dávila — and other Jewish ancestors who were Christian converts — were investigated by the Spanish Inquisition in 1486 for heresy. Their religious crime: maintaining a double Jewish life in secret.

On this journey to Segovia, perhaps I could find their missing tomb — their remains whisked away to evade the reach of inquisitors looking for telltale signs of Jewish burial rituals. Or maybe I could reclaim the shards of the identity of my family who converted to Christianity centuries ago to survive but guarded a Jewish legacy in secret for generations from Spain to Costa Rica to California.

Not many people come to explore the roots of a family tree in this rocky crag of about 55,000 people, nestled between two river valleys 55 miles north of Madrid. But there are plenty of tourists who arrive in Segovia by bus and train, bound for the granite Roman aqueducts that loom over the entrance to the historic quarter and the taverns serving the Segovian specialty of baby suckling pig. Most vanish before sunset.

Then the rhythm of the city shifts to a meditative, unhurried one. For me, it’s a contemplative time to savor Segovia’s historical charm by its Gothic 16th-century cathedral and a leafy plaza of outdoor cafes where Queen Isabella was crowned — power used in 1492 to expel thousands of Jews who faced the choice of fleeing, converting to Christianity or preserving their religion in secret.

Ana Sundri Herrero, of the city’s tourism center, told me during one of my visits last spring and summer that there isn’t much demand for genealogy information although Spain has a vast diaspora of emigrants that dates back centuries.

Other countries with a more recent history of mass migration, such as Ireland and Scotland, are aggressively promoting genealogical records on government-sponsored websites to increase tourism. And Irish and Scottish businesses have seized it as an attraction. The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin offers a special genealogy butler to guide guests. The Four Seasons hotel in Prague also offers a genealogy service to fashion tours to track the neighborhoods of grandparents.

For my own quest, I cobbled together a strategy with a right and left-brain approach that started with an emotional immersion in Andalusia and then a methodical genealogical search to track family lines that led north to Segovia.

For one summer, my husband, Omer, and daughter, Claire, and I moved to the south of Spain, to Arcos de la Frontera. We settled in one of the white houses, an ex-bordello clinging on the side of a limestone cliff and a short walk from the remains of a Jewish quarter and a synagogue transformed into an orphanage during the Inquisition.

I moved there to learn the history and geography of the country and to understand why ancestors left or stayed and submerged their identity. I traveled to Arcos frequently, fascinated that food, art, music and culture could help me travel back in time — especially the brotherhoods that in some cases played historic roles as enforcers during the Inquisition.

I felt chills at the sharp notes of saeta music — distinctive to the region and sung a cappella in the streets during Holy Week. The music echoes the rising and falling chant of the Jewish Kol Nidre, a Yom Kippur prayer. And some flamenco experts believe that converts sang the saetas to passing Holy Week images of Jesus and Mary to demonstrate loyalty, but with a double meaning for insiders.

For the left brain side of my hunt, I started researching all the family branches. My search dated back to 2001, after a move from New York to Europe, a moment in middle age that strikes most of us when we think about roots and what we can pass on to our children.

In my work as a journalist, people had long inquired about my byline, Carvajal, a Sephardic Jewish name that in some spelling variations means lost place, rejected. But I knew nothing about the past. My father, Arnoldo Carvajal, had grown up in Costa Rica and emigrated to San Francisco with his mother and sister while a teenager. He married, and with my mother raised six children. We were Catholic, attended weekly Sunday Mass, ate fish on Fridays and wore it all: Catholic school uniforms of green plaid skirts and medieval-style scapulars tucked around our necks.

After I started my search, I found many clues to our submerged Jewish identity from relatives, but I hit brick walls on the Carvajal line. A 19th-century Costa Rican ancestor had not registered a husband, giving her Carvajal name to a newborn, registered as a "natural son," the polite Spanish term for illegitimate.

I had made a critical error by not looking at other family lines, ignoring an ancestral habit of intermarriage among Costa Rican cousins. I realized later it was a sign that they were marrying one another to protect secrets and preserve rituals like the menorah that my cousin said he found in my great-aunt’s bedroom after she died in 1998.

My grandmother’s line on the Chacón side led to Spaniards who abandoned prosperous lives in Andalusia in the 16th century. One was a judge who died of a heart attack on the way to the Spanish colony of Costa Rica, and another, his young son, who drowned on the same journey in the Río Negro in Honduras. Each new generation fit together in a crossword puzzle of wives and husbands — a search for birth and death certificates that emerged in fits and starts, aided by sites like familysearch.org or ancestry.com .

Segovia startled me when it surfaced in my puzzle. I knew of no family tie to the city. But my grandmother’s line leapt a new generation in the 16th century, to Isabel Arias Dávila, the wife of the first governor of Costa Rica, who emigrated from Segovia during the Inquisition.

With that name, I rapidly learned about the Inquisition trial that tangled the family’s identity for generations and forced others to lead new lives as conquistadores in Spanish colonies. The patriarch was Diego Arias Dávila, whose family converted when he was a boy and whose son Juan was the bishop of Segovia for 30 years.

The bishop’s internal political struggle with the inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada turned into an epic legal clash that reached all the way to the Vatican. The Grand Inquisitor battled the bishop by probing his family for evidence of their double life. His parents and grandmother were investigated posthumously, among them Diego Arias Dávila.

I knew the contours of their story the first time I arrived last spring in Segovia’s Jewish quarter, which dates back to the 13th century. Today it still gives the eerie sense at some moments that little has changed among the three-story houses where inhabitants once worshiped at one of five synagogues, some still intact.

The mansion of Abraham Seneor — a contemporary of Diego Arias Dávila and a royal financial adviser who converted in 1492 — has been meticulously restored by the city and was transformed into a museum for the Jewish quarter in 2004. There conversos like the Arias Dávila family worshiped in secret in a private synagogue, according to accounts of the time.

Up until the early 1990s, Segovia did not promote this quarter, which is set off from the rest of the walled city by brick arches that were gated in the 15th century to separate Jews from Christians. But since then the local government and state invested heavily to restore the quarter. Now its streets have an air of calm: clean brick and stone facades, rhythmic detailing of balconies and hanging plants at the windows.

To restore my own family history, I knew I needed a very special kind of guide. On my own, I had failed to find the missing tomb of Diego Arias Dávila, though I had located the family coat of arms in the cathedral of Segovia.

Typically most cities in Spain have a cronista, a historian with a passion for the place and its quirks. I had found one earlier in Arcos de la Frontera, Manuel Pérez Regordán, a retired accountant who was so obsessive that he self-published four volumes of history told through each one of its little streets.

In Segovia, the tourist office led me to a high school teacher named María Eugenia Contreras, who is researching the Arias Dávila family for a doctorate.

It was María Eugenia who guided me through Segovia’s tranquil neighborhoods, passing a park with nesting storks where the Mercedes convent once stood. It was the site of the last official tomb of Diego Arias Dávila, and his wife, Elvira, also a Christian convert. But even Maria Eugenia did not know what happened to their remains. They had been moved too many times. She gave me a huge gift, though, when she told me about a Salamanca professor who had painstakingly transcribed the handwritten Inquisition testimonies of 200 witnesses against the family.

I found the title — in pristine condition — through an online used-book store in Spain. It was a window into their lives — the lettuce and unleavened bread they ate at Passover, their donations of oil to the local synagogues and the telling anecdote that as he lay on his deathbed at 86, Diego Arias Dávila thundered at the Franciscan friars who had come to administer last rites to go to the devil.

He lived in an enormous palace on the southern side of the city that is dominated by its fortress tower and plastered in Segovia’s unique limestone patterns. Today, a neighboring street is named for the family. A sign also marks the landmark tower, but with no reference to the Inquisition.

The first time I tried to enter the palace, I was turned away because it was closing time. The next morning, the first floor was bustling with people waiting to pay bills. Fittingly, the Arias Dávila palace has been transformed into government tax offices — a perfect legacy for a royal treasurer.

In theory, I should have felt something, but I didn’t. I studied the palace’s coffered ceilings and the stone carvings of the coat of arms of the Arias Dávila family, but the government office could be anywhere with its counters, red chairs and bureaucrats.

Instead I felt the pangs of yearning for home — añoranza in Spanish — when I sat in a windswept little plaza at sunset near the city’s stone walls. It was loud with birdsong. A few neighbors occupied plastic chairs, and tables were cluttered with iced tinto de verano wine cocktails.

The square lies near Calle Martínez Campos, where a vanished synagogue stood that was funded by Diego’s wife, Elvira, and her presence, after reading the Inquisition transcripts, was inescapable. I wondered, as I sat in the square, if Segovia had absorbed some of her burdens and if places, like people, can be scarred by history.

Elvira converted as a young girl with her family in the 15th century in the midst of spreading anti-Semitism.

Yet it was clear from the Inquisition testimony that she yearned to maintain family bonds: taking pleasure in Jewish weddings and holidays, leaving explicit instructions before her death about who should be at her bedside. Those family ties remained so strong that she managed to share something precious with us 16 generations later. Perhaps some things are meant to be.

I was startled when I discovered her real name was actually Clara, changed after her conversion. It means clear and bright. By coincidence — or maybe not — we named our daughter the French version, Claire.

As I sat in the little plaza in Segovia, watching the pale stone walls and the blue night deepen, I knew that I could not change what is past. But I can change the story we tell about ourselves, and by doing that I can change our future.

A picture caption on April 6 with the cover article about the writer’s search for her family’s roots in Spain misstated her relationship to the man shown with his wife. He was the writer’s paternal — not maternal— great-grandfather. And a caption with a photograph of the writer’s grandmother, father and aunt misidentified the location. It was taken in Costa Rica, not in the Dominican Republic.

How we handle corrections

Doreen Carvajal is a correspondent at the International New York Times in Paris and author of a memoir, “The Forgetting River.”

Europe's Jewish Heritage Jewish history and culture along the rivers

Europe's Jewish Heritage

We're proud to offer a collection of itineraries that enable you to explore Jewish history and culture with our Jewish Heritage Program, the only one of its kind on the rivers. Our in-depth itineraries dive into Europe's enduring Jewish legacy with visits to museums, memorials, synagogues and more.

Europe's Jewish Revival

The 2,000-year-old history of the Jewish people in Europe is an inspiring one, rife with tragedy and discrimination, as well as the endurance and profound sense of community that survived it all.

Uniworld’s Jewish Heritage cruises pay homage to this legacy. Our distinctive program showcases Jewish communities, highlighting positive developments and locals who are helping Jewish culture grow and thrive in the modern day.

While visits to Holocaust memorials, Jewish museums, and WWII sites are an important part of this journey, our aim is to tell the whole story—the story of a culture that flourished for centuries despite the odds.

We’ve designed our Jewish Heritage theme cruises to serve as cross-cultural “bridges of understanding,” both for those looking to explore their roots and anyone who would enjoy an immersive journey through an integral aspect of European history. Please note: some sites may be closed for inside viewing during the High Holidays, Passover and other significant events.

AVAILABLE ON SELECT DATES ON THESE ITINERARIES

Remarkable Rhine & Historic Holland

Amsterdam to Basel | 11 days

Dive deep into the region’s culture, natural wonders, traditions and historical significance in a one-of-a-kind experience along the Rhine. Delve into the region’s world-renowned museums. ...

Ships: River Queen, S.S. Antoinette

Countries: France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland

River: Rhine

4.6 /5 (273 reviews)

Learn more Get a Quote

Delightful Danube & Prague

Budapest to Prague | 10 days

Experience dynamic Budapest, imperial Vienna and exquisitely preserved Prague. Marvel at ravishing scenery as your luxurious ship glides through the Wachau Valley, celebrated as one of the...

Ships: River Duchess, S.S. Beatrice

Countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary

River: Danube

4.5 /5 (491 reviews)

Delightful Danube

Budapest to Nuremberg | 8 days

Experience dynamic Budapest and imperial Vienna. Marvel at ravishing scenery as your luxurious ship glides through the Wachau Valley, celebrated as one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes, ...

Countries: Austria, Germany, Hungary

4.5 /5 (92 reviews)

Cruise & Rail: Delightful Danube & the Castles of Transylvania

Istanbul to Nuremberg | 15 days

Begin with the exquisite mosques of Istanbul, where we explore the fascinating history and age-old traditions of this magnificent city, shaped by the empires of times gone by. Then join us on a...

Ship: River Duchess

Countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Turkey

Stay up to date on all things Uniworld

We'll keep you up-to-date with our latest news, travel inspiration and special promotions.

Privacy Policy

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

Request a Quote

We're here to answer your questions about Uniworld cruises and ships, as well as any of our special offers.

Please note that someone from our team will reach out to you based on this request, but unless you have checked the box to continue to receive News and Special Offers, the information you've provided in this form will be used for this request only.

Please view our Privacy Policy for more details.

• Monday–Friday from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm (PT)
• Saturday from 7:00 am to 3:30 pm (PT)
• Closed on Sundays

Receive our latest offers, news & travel inspiration

We'll keep you up-to-date with our latest news, travel inspiration and special promotions.

Trending Topics:

• Say Kaddish Daily
• Passover 2024

Welcome to The Hub for online Jewish classes and events. Find an upcoming event hosted by Jewish organizations across the world, or explore our on-demand section to view recordings of past events.

Travel to Spain: Sephardic Jewish Heritage Tour

Hosted By: Qesher

This event offers a comprehensive exploration of the Jewish history of Spain, covering its early presence in the Iberian Peninsula, the Golden Age, and the tragic interruption of Jewish life, followed by its recent revival. The first forty-five minutes of the talk will dive into these significant historical periods and events. The second part of the presentation will introduce and focus on the “Sephardic Jewish Heritage Tour to Spain.”

The event listed here is hosted by a third party. My Jewish Learning/70 Faces Media is not responsible for its content or for errors in the listing.

Never miss an event!

Sign up to receive daily events in your inbox

Related events

Jewish amsterdam: a small community with a giant history.

Hosted by: Qesher

Tour of Jewish Egypt

Hosted by: My Jewish Learning

The Jews of Galicia (Western Ukraine): A Virtual Tour of Lviv and Brody

Discover more.

Jews Around the Globe

Synagogues of Ukraine, Past and Present

Photos and illustrations of Ukraine's historic synagogues provide a glimpse into Eastern European Jewish life throughout the last 500 years.

Zionism in Ukraine

How and why Ukraine was arguably the most important cradle for early Zionists.

Haskalah in Russia and Galicia

The development and expansion of the Jewish Enlightenment.

Spain's PM Says EU Could Reevaluate Relations With Israel if It Finds It Breached Law

Spain's PM Says EU Could Reevaluate Relations With Israel if It Finds It Breached Law

FILE PHOTO: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks to the press as he attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - The European Union should debate whether to continue its strategic relationship with Israel if the European Commission finds that Israel has breached humanitarian law in its war on Gaza, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Al Jazeera TV.

In February, Sanchez and his Irish counterpart asked Brussels to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in the Gaza Strip, where the Jewish state has unleashed a massive offensive since an attack by Hamas militants on Israel in October.

"In the case of the EU, the situation would be that there's an open door to have a debate within the European Council in order to see if we continue with this strategic relation or not. But this is something for which we first need to have the assessment of the European Commission," Sanchez told Al Jazeera.

War in Israel and Gaza

Sanchez reiterated his call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the international recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state with full membership in the United Nations.

Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia announced last month they would work toward recognition of a Palestinian state. Israel told the four countries this would represent a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict.

Since 1988, 139 out of 193 United Nations member states have recognised Palestinian statehood.

Photos You Should See

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

Join the Conversation

Tags: United Nations , Ireland , Israel , Asia , European Union , Middle East , Europe , Spain , Qatar

America 2024

Health News Bulletin

Stay informed on the latest news on health and COVID-19 from the editors at U.S. News & World Report.

Sign in to manage your newsletters »

Sign up to receive the latest updates from U.S News & World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy .

You May Also Like

The 10 worst presidents.

U.S. News Staff Feb. 23, 2024

Cartoons on President Donald Trump

Feb. 1, 2017, at 1:24 p.m.

Photos: Obama Behind the Scenes

April 8, 2022

Photos: Who Supports Joe Biden?

March 11, 2020

‘Unity Ticket’ a No-Go for No Labels

Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder April 4, 2024

Biden Ramps Up Pressure on Israel

Powell: Rate Cuts Still Likely in 2024

Tim Smart April 3, 2024

EXPLAINER: Rare Human Case of Bird Flu

Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder April 3, 2024

Key Takeaways From 4 Primaries

Susan Milligan April 3, 2024

ADP: Employers Keep on Hiring

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Majority of voters in UK back banning arms sales to Israel, poll finds

Exclusive: YouGov survey indicates loss of support among people in Britain for Israel’s war in Gaza

A majority of voters in Britain back a ban on arms sales to Israel , according to a YouGov poll.

One of the first up-to-date assessments of whether Israel is losing public support in key allied states, the research also suggests most people believe the Israeli government is violating human rights in Gaza .

The loss of public support in the UK will alarm Israel, which has always relied on strong UK backing.

The poll was commissioned by Action for Humanity and conducted before seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike, an event for which Israel has apologised but not yet provided an explanation.

The poll shows that among all voters in the UK a majority of 56% to 17% are in favour of a ban on the export of arms and spare parts. By a majority of 59% to 12% voters say Israel is violating human rights in Gaza.

There has been very little British polling of public opinion on Israel’s conduct in Gaza, unlike in the US. The findings suggest that strenuous Israeli efforts at public diplomacy have failed to convince the British public.

The poll found strong support for an arms export ban among voters intending to vote Labour at the next election. An overwhelming 71% to 9% of those intending to vote Labour back an arms export ban, while Lib Dem voters support a ban by 70% to 14% and Conservative voters by 38% to 36%. Asked if Israel is violating human rights, Tory voters by two to one say Israel is doing so.

Western public opinion matters in the Gaza conflict in a way that it sometimes does not in other wars. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly said the length of the country’s effort to destroy Hamas as a fighting force is dependent on the continuance of western support.

Many senior Israeli politicians discuss the gradual erosion of international support, with some openly fearing Israel is sliding into a pariah status that will set it back in the long term.

Despite tens of thousands of Palestinians being killed, it appears that it is the deaths of British, Polish, Canadian and Australian aid workers that have led to a dam bursting for western powers.

Labour has so far not called for an arms export ban, confining itself to calling for the UK Foreign Office to release the legal advice it has received on whether Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law. The poll suggests Labour could make a call for an arms export ban without alienating its own supporters.

The YouGov poll had a 2,000-plus sample size. Among 2019 Tory voters the majority in favour of an exports ban is substantially larger than among voters intending to vote Conservative at the next election, suggesting voters swinging away from the Tories in particular are opposed to Israel’s actions.

after newsletter promotion

The Labour former Middle East minister Peter Hain said: “The Conservative government’s inaction has emboldened Israel to continue flouting its obligations under international law to protect Palestinian civilians, who are being denied elementary humanitarian protection.

“Labour should be demanding the government stops all exports of arms and parts to Israel. This is about standing up for human rights, the international rules-based system, and ensuring accountability in a setting where innocent lives are at stake.”

Othman Moqbel, the chief executive of Action for Humanity said: “Aid agencies, including Action for Humanity, are risking their lives to deliver humanitarian assistance, with aid convoys and service locations facing direct targeting, despite being marked as ‘deconflicted’.

“The UK must finally act to protect those delivering life-saving aid and hold violators of international law to account.”

• Israel-Gaza war
• Middle East and north Africa
• Palestinian territories
• Human rights

More on this story

UN body calls for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes

Devastating it took aid worker deaths for Israel to change approach, says senior Tory

Fourth former UK supreme court judge signs letter over Israeli actions in Gaza

What aid routes will Israel open into Gaza and what happens next?

Joe Biden calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza and says Israel must protect civilians to keep US support

Tories investigating Alan Duncan’s comments on party’s pro-Israel ‘extremists’

‘We stand together’: Bradford Muslim and Jewish leaders join forces for Ramadan event

Amid the slaughter and with famine looming, Israel’s allies must say enough is enough. If not now, when?

Sadiq Khan says UK arms sales to Israel have ‘got to stop’

How Spain and Ireland became the EU’s sharpest critics of Israel

Most viewed.