Some of my favorite vacations were the last-minute deals, in which we quickly packed, booked the destinations, and took flight. Having cooked most of our Pesach meals and cleaned more than half of our home, we used the days before the holiday to leave our children at home and feel young again as a couple, backpacking in Europe. Even when we had a tight itinerary fitting in the sightseeing within four days, I could not put aside my sense of journalism while vacationing.
Spain made sense as it is directly across the ocean from New York, less expensive than Britain and France, and with a warmer climate in early April. But is it safe for Jewish travelers, considering the popularity of Palestine and the ruling socialists?
To ensure an affordable vacation, we packed dry snacks and eschewed renting a car, which isn’t a necessity in Spain. The airport in Madrid is accessible by subway, connecting to the Atocha train station. A drive between Madrid and Barcelona can take more than six hours, while the bullet train reduces the trip to under three, with one stop between the two cities. Both cities have extensive subway networks that are clean with frequent service.
There are guided tours of El Call, the historic ghetto in Barcelona’s old city, but they are not necessary, as there are historical signs posted in Catalan, Spanish, and English explaining the people, buildings, and events of the neighborhood. In my search for a minyan, the Greater Synagogue in the Old City is a two-room affair, tucked into a basement that was reclaimed as a Jewish space in 1995. Its rediscovery is credited to researcher Jaume Riera, who mapped its location, and Argentinian Jew Miguel Iaffa, who purchased the building in 1995. The short doorway and small space lend themselves to the feeling of secrecy, which is how Jews lived in Barcelona after the pogrom of 1391. A century later, Judaism became a capital crime as the Inquisition raged across the Spanish empire.
The placement of a Chabad House is a lesson in the local Jewish landscape. In a downtown location, it serves a primarily tourist clientele; but in Barcelona, the shul and mikvah are an hour’s walk from the Old City, in a residential neighborhood, which suggests that the city has an active community. The city’s Sephardic synagogue and Chabad shul are understated in their appearance, with security considerations in mind. We were surprised that the only kosher restaurant in the old city, Maccabi, visibly advertises itself on a busy pedestrian boulevard.
We felt reassured that perhaps it is possible to walk the streets of Barcelona without a baseball cap. But then we read about anti-Israel demonstrations last October that celebrated the Hamas attack on Israel, an Israeli tourist who was attacked last June, and last week’s arrest of three men in Barcelona who were allegedly making drones for Hezbollah. I retained my baseball cap. Being the only pedestrian with this American item, I was also mindful of last year’s protests in Barcelona against overtourism, the feeling among residents that they are being priced out of their city by short-term rentals, and an economy that pays more attention to visitors than to natives.
In Madrid, we spent two nights in a studio apartment close to the train station. The city’s Sephardic synagogue does not advertise its minyanim. To pray, visitors must email the Jewish community ahead of time, and the security guard then verifies the visitors by name. To daven with a minyan felt special. It meant that I wasn’t simply a foreign tourist; I was a Jew connecting to other Jews.
Outside the synagogue, armed police stood guard. A month earlier, the kosher pizzeria was hit by an arsonist. The shop’s exterior does not visibly advertise itself, appearing plainly as “panadería y lechería,” but it appears on Google Maps. Likewise, Fuego Steakhouse, which is closer to the city center, is on a quiet street, and its sign does not advertise kashrus or Hebrew letters.
As long as socialists run the government, Spain’s response to anti-Semitic incidents is reactive rather than proactive, failing to see the connection between its advocacy for Palestine and the incidents inspired by hostility towards Israel.
On our departure, an airport security guard asked me to remove the baseball cap. He smiled and recognized my religion. Perhaps he’s also Jewish, I thought, or a descendant of Jews. His name tag read Jesus. In front of us, a veteran’s backpack had patches with his rank and an imperial flag, identifying a supporter of conservative parties. The opposition Popular and Vox parties are sympathetic towards Israel. Recent polls show a decline in support for the socialists and gains for right-wing parties.
By Sergey Kadinsky
