Spain's 650% Jewish population growth: myth or fact

Spain's 650% Jewish population growth: where does it come from?

Is it true that Spain is the country where the Jewish population has grown the most since 1945? The figure circulating is striking: a 650% increase over seven decades. The logical first reaction is to ask for the breakdown by period. And that's where the problem begins.

Francoism or democracy?

Some argue the phenomenon began under Franco's regime: two of the regime's biggest businessmen arrived in Spain fleeing the Third Reich, and would have been the spearhead of a larger wave of immigration. Others respond bluntly: two businessmen do not explain 650%. The figure being used places at least 600% of that increase in the period after 1978, the so-called R78. The underlying suspicion: the bulk of Jewish demographic growth in Spain has nothing to do with the postwar period, but with democracy. In between, the Inquisition surfaces: some recall that it was full of Oooo-conversos, a fact that sheds light on the past but does not quantify the present.

Irony as a tool

The lack of reliable figures prompts ironic responses. If we count people "spiritually and sarracena," the increase would be 25-30 million people, more Jews than in Israel. The quip serves to underline the same point: without solid data, any hypothesis survives.

The matter remains where it was: the 650% exists, but nobody breaks down how much belongs to each period. That two businessmen fleeing Nancy, the Inquisition or the Transition explain the increase is, for now, a matter of faith. The data, meanwhile, still fail to appear.