Facing rising antisemitism, Spain’s Jews bring Jewish life to the public

According to the FCJE’s latest report, antisemitic incidents in Spain in rose by a troubling 14.5 percent last year, underscoring the growing normalization of anti-Jewish hatred across the country.

By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner

Spain’s Jewish community is turning to social media ahead of Rosh Hashanah to introduce the country’s wider public to Jewish culture, traditions, and religious practices in an effort to foster greater understanding and counter a growing climate of anti-Jewish hostility.

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE), the country’s main Jewish umbrella organization, launched the initiative as part of its broader efforts to promote greater understanding of Jewish culture and religious life, using a series of short videos to offer the public an accessible introduction to Judaism and the country’s Jewish community.

Now available online, the first two videos in the series introduce viewers to key aspects of Jewish life and tradition ahead of Rosh Hashanah—which begins on Friday night, ushering in the Jewish year 5787—a time for celebration, introspection, and looking toward the year ahead.

A pocos días de que comience un nuevo año judío (el próximo viernes 11 damos la bienvenida al 5787) queremos compartir qué significan Rosh Hashana (el comienzo del año) y Yom Kipur (el Día del Perdón) y dimensión espiritual. pic.twitter.com/4EhbZWrXqL

— FCJE (@fcjecom) September 7, 2026

By presenting Jewish traditions in a simple and accessible format, the FCJE hopes to reach a broad audience and foster greater awareness of Spain’s Jewish community and its heritage at a time when Jews and Israelis continue to face an alarming social climate, with mounting attacks, harassment, and discrimination.

According to the FCJE’s latest report, antisemitic incidents rose by a troubling 14.5 percent last year, underscoring the growing normalization of anti-Jewish hatred across the country.

The report documented 221 anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2025, up from 193 the previous year, reflecting a wave of hostility that continues to spread across Spanish society rather than fade.

An estimated 13,000-15,000 Jews who identify as Jewish or have Jewish parents live in Spain, as part of a broader population of about 40,000-50,000 non-affiliated people with Jewish heritage and ancestry.

Like most countries across Europe and the broader Western world, Spain has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents over the past three years in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Yet, Madrid stands out as one of the most extreme cases, with experts warning that antisemitic violence and anti-Zionist rhetoric have moved beyond a social phenomenon to being, in many instances, state-promoted and legitimized as a political tool.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and several members of his Socialist Party have come under mounting criticism from some of the country’s political and Jewish leaders, who accuse them of fueling antisemitic hostility.

According to FCJE’s recent report, the rise in anti-Jewish hatred and violence targeting Spain’s Jewish community has proved far more than a temporary reaction to the war in Gaza, becoming a sustained wave of hostility that has continued since antisemitic incidents surged in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities.

The report also warned that antisemitism is increasingly taking new forms, becoming normalized across social, educational, cultural, and digital spaces and seeping deeper into everyday life.

In one of the latest incidents, fans near Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium were filmed Tuesday chanting antisemitic slogans and calling for violence against Jews shortly before the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

In widely circulated social media videos, several Real Madrid fans can be heard chanting, “Jew that I see, Jew that I hit,” while others make Nazi salutes.