There are approximately 40,000 to 50,000 Jews living in Spain today, with major communities in Madrid and Barcelona, and smaller ones in cities like Malaga, Valencia, and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. While Spain once had a large Sephardic Jewish population, the community was expelled in 1492, and the current population is a mix of descendants and newer immigrants.
The Sephardim is the name given to those Jews who, after living in Spain for several centuries, were expelled by the catholic Monarchs in 1492 at the request of the Inquisition.
The Law enables Sephardic Jews who are descendents of those expelled from Spain in the 15th century to obtain the Spanish citizenship without renouncing their current citizenship and without requiring residency in Spain.
According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, there were 271,327 Jews in England and Wales, or 0.5% of the overall population, whilst in the 2021 Northern Irish census, there were 439 self-identified Jews constituting just 0.02% of the population, but marking a 31% increase in numbers since the census of 2011.
Following the Arab conquests, successive waves of Berber and Arab tribes, Jewish refugees, and Mediterranean merchants migrated across the Strait of Gibraltar from North Africa and the Middle East onto the Iberian Peninsula. They were attracted by the country's reputation as a land of opportunity and rich potential.
Jews under Muslim authority in Spain and Portugal were designated as dhimmi (Arabic: ذمي)—a legally protected class of non-Muslim subjects—in exchange for paying jizya (جِزْيَة) and accepting certain restrictions.
London has the largest Jewish population in the UK by far, with over half of the country's Jewish residents living in the capital, particularly concentrated in areas like Barnet, Stamford Hill, and Golders Green, followed by Greater Manchester as the second-largest community outside London.
Israel has the largest Jewish population, with over 7 million people, followed by the United States, which has the second-largest community, with approximately 6 million Jews, making these the two countries where the vast majority of the world's Jewish population lives. France and Canada also have significant Jewish populations, with tens of thousands or more, but Israel and the U.S. are the clear leaders.
As we have seen, Jews make up just under 0.5% of the national population, about the same proportion as in the last two censuses. Therefore, in 2021, just 5 out of 1,000 people in England and Wales were Jewish compared with 462 Christians, 65 Muslims and 17 Hindus.
The new regulation defines and broadens five forms of arraigo: Social arraigo – requires a minimum of 2 years' stay in Spain and a job offer or proof of financial means. Labour arraigo – for those who have worked at least 6 months and resided in Spain for 2 years.
On March 31, 1492, an edict of expulsion ordered all Jews to leave Spain by the end of July. All who remained had to be baptized under threat of death.
Mizrahi (in Hebrew, “Eastern” or “Oriental”) Jews come from Middle Eastern ancestry. Their earliest communities date from Late Antiquity, and the oldest and largest of these communities were in modern Iraq (Babylonia), Iran (Persia), and Yemen. Today, most Mizrahi Jews live either in Israel or the United States.
Before World War II, Italy had a population of about 50,000 Jews, of whom approximately 8,000 were killed in the Holocaust. According the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, approximately 28,000 Jews live in the country today.
The Netherlands is a tolerant and inclusive country, and this is reflected in its attitude towards its Jewish population, with Jews feeling safe and welcome here.
Jews lived in at least forty-three Jewish communities in Palestine: twelve towns on the coast, in the Negev, and east of the Jordan, and thirty-one villages in Galilee and in the Jordan valley. The persecuted Jews of Palestine revolted twice against their Christian rulers.
Judaism is experiencing a complex demographic shift: the global Jewish population is slowly growing (reaching around 15.7 million recently) but remains smaller than pre-Holocaust numbers, with growth primarily driven by high birth rates in Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) communities in Israel and the U.S.. While Israel's Jewish population is expanding rapidly, many secular and non-Orthodox Jews in the diaspora are seeing declines, leading to significant internal cultural and political changes, with Israel projected to become the world's largest Jewish center.
Israel and the United States are the only countries with millions of Jewish residents; 85% of Jews worldwide live in one of these two countries. Nearly half of all Jews live in Israel, which has a 77% Jewish majority and is the only country in which Jews make up more than 2% of the population.
Census 2021 shows that there were 22,546 usual residents that were born in Israel and 4621 usual residents that were born in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in England and Wales.
Spanish Catholics believed that the Jews had too much economic influence over the kingdoms, and this resentment, combined with religious prejudice, led to the expulsion.
Think of Jews forcibly dispersed from Israel by conquerors as Exiled. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Judea, destroyed Solomon's Temple (586 BCE), and exiled the Jews to Babylonia and beyond. Cyrus King of Persia then allowed Jews to return to Zion (538 BCE) to rebuild their Temple.
Spain is not a Muslim-majority country, but Islamic heritage and growing Muslim communities make it increasingly convenient to find mosques and prayer spaces — especially in major cities and historic regions like Andalusia.
