History of The Jews in Spain - Since 1858

Since 1858

Small numbers of Jews started to arrive in Spain in the 19th century, and synagogues were opened in Madrid.

The Jews of Morocco, where the initial welcome had turned to oppression as centuries passed by, had welcomed the Spanish troops conquering Spanish Morocco as their liberators.

Spanish historians started to take an interest in the Sephardim and their language.

The government of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1930) decreed the right to Spanish citizenship of Sephardim.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the synagogues were closed and post-war worship was kept in private homes. Jews could be investigated by anti-Semitic police officers.

During World War II, the neutrality of Francoist Spain, in spite of the rhetoric against the "Judaeo-Masonic conspiracy", allowed 25,600 Jews to use the country as an escape route from the European theater of war, as long as they "passed through leaving no trace". Furthermore, Spanish diplomats such as Ángel Sanz Briz, with the Italian Giorgio Perlasca, protected some 4,000 Jews and accepted 2,750 Jewish refugees from Hungary.

The Alhambra Decree that had expelled the Jews was formally rescinded on December 16, 1968. Synagogues were opened and the communities could hold a discreet activity.