Red de Juderías de España

The Red de Juderías de España (literally "Network of Jewish Quarters of Spain") is a non-profit organisation comprising cities which have a medieval Jewish quarter. Its goals are to preserve the architectural, historical, artistic and cultural legacy of the Sephardi Jews, who were expelled from Spain in 1492.[1] Since October 2016, the organisation is permanently headquartered in Córdoba, while its presidency rotates annually between mayors of member cities.[2]

Statue of Maimonides in the Jewish quarter of Córdoba, member and seat of the network

History

The organisation was founded in 1995 and its founding members were Cáceres, Córdoba, Girona, Hervás, Ribadavia, Segovia, Toledo and Tudela. Tortosa and Oviedo joined before the end of the century.[1] Barcelona and León joined in 2003, alongside Ávila and Jaén two years later.[3] In 2008 there was a significant expansion, with Besalú, Calahorra, Estella-Lizarra, Monforte de Lemos Plasencia and Tarazona joining.[4] Lucena became the 24th member in 2012, having first applied in 2003.[5]

In June 2016, the Catalan members Besalú, Castelló d'Empúries, Girona and Tortosa quit the organisation. These cities – where Jewish quarters are known as calls from a Hebrew term – saw the organisation as focused on tourism, while they considered education and research to be more important. The split made headlines in The New York Times and Israel's Haaretz.[6]

Seville, a member since 2011, also left in 2016. Mayor Juan Espadas saw membership as not financially viable.[7] Palma de Mallorca ended its 12-year membership in 2017 in order to put the €22,500 fee towards promoting its Jewish history independently.[8] Oviedo's membership ended in 2020 due to a €54,000 debt.[9]

Béjar, Lorca, Sagunto and Tui joined in 2019.[10]

References
  1. Berbis, Silvia (8 April 2000). "La Red de Juderías acepta en Tortosa su ampliación a dos ciudades cada dos años" [The Red de Juderías accepts Tortosa in its enlargement of two cities every two years]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  2. "Córdoba, elegida nueva sede de la Red de Juderías de España" [Córdoba, chosen as new seat of the Red de Juderías de España]. ABC (in Spanish). 16 October 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  3. "Avila [sic] y Jaén se integran en la Red de Juderías de España Caminos de Sefarad" [Ávila and Jaén join the Red de Juderías de España Caminos de Sefarad]. Córdoba (in Spanish). 16 January 2005. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  4. Medel, Gloria (6 November 2007). "Calahorra se convertirá el próximo año en miembro titular de la Red de Juderías de España" [Calahorra will become next year a full member of the Red de Juderías de España]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  5. Yébenes, Almudena R. (3 June 2012). "Lucena accede a la Red de Juderías de España tras nueve años de trabajo" [Lucena joins the Red de Juderías de España after nine years of work]. El Día de Córdoba (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  6. Bou, Lluís (11 June 2016). "Los calls judíos catalanes se separan de las juderías españolas" [The Catalan Jewish Calls separate themselves from the Spanish Juderías]. El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  7. Barba, Eduardo (3 October 2016). "La comunidad judía de Sevilla pide sitio para reivindicar su identidad y su historia" [Seville's Jewish community asks for a site to reassert their identity and their history]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  8. "Palma sale de la Red de Juderías para tener un programa propio" [Palma leaves the Red de Juderías to have its own programme]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). 23 December 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  9. "Oviedo se da de baja de la Red de Juderías" [Oviedo leaves the Red de Juderías]. La Voz de Asturias (in Spanish). 29 January 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  10. "La Red de Juderías de España incorpora cuatro nuevas localidades" [Red de Juderías de España adds four new locations] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
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