For more than 500 years, Jews were officially barred from living in Spain. Now, the descendants of the Edict of Expulsion of 1492 have been invited to reapply for citizenship. Some 4,500 have accepted the invitation as Spain tries to right one of the most egregious wrongs in Jewish history
For more than 500 years, Jews were officially barred from living in Spain. Now, the descendants of the Edict of Expulsion of 1492 have been invited to reapply for citizenship. Some 4,500 have accepted the invitation as Spain tries to right one of the most egregious wrongs in Jewish history
Nobody can.
Yet the 48-year-old monarch has shown special grace to Spain’s Jewish community since assuming the throne in June 2014 after his father, King Juan Carlos I, abdicated following a 39-year reign.
King Felipe demonstrated that grace last week, mingling freely and conversing for nearly an hour with a visiting Jewish contingent at Madrid’s royal palace. The unusual meeting took place alongside a formal ceremony in which the king accepted the fourth annual Lord Jakobovits Prize from the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) in recognition of a new Spanish law enabling descendants of expelled Jews to reclaim Spanish citizenship.
Guests nibbled on hors d’oeuvre and sipped red and white wine in the ornate Palacio Real de El Pardo, built in the 16th century when Madrid became Spain’s capital. Surrounding us on the walls — which were punctuated with windowed balconies adorned with cream-colored shutters and railings of black brass and gold — hung tapestries created by world-renowned Spanish artists Bayeu and de Goya.
Create a free account to keep reading.
