Spain's first synagogue since 1492

Did you know that the first synagogue in Spain after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 was opened in Madrid in 1917?

Commemorative plaque on the building that hosted the first synagogue in Spain since 1492, located on 5 Príncipe Street, in the city center of Madrid.

After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, a long historical period was opened during which the Jews could not live in Spain.

In the middle of the 19th century, and especially after WW1 broke out, the first Jewish families settled in Madrid, mostly from Western Europe.

The city`s first Synagogue, Midrás Abarbanel, was inaugurated in 1917, a few years before the Jewish Community was officially established in 1920.

The Civil War and the first years of the Franco dictatorship determined the temporary closure of the Community, and put a stop to of all forms of Jewish public life in the city.

In 1949 a new synagogue was inaugurated, and from the 50s, especially in the 60s and 70s, the Jewish population of Madrid increased greatly with successive waves of migration from Morocco and Argentina. Since then many families from other countries in Latin America, Israel and Europe have settled more or less permanently in the last few decades.