Since Hamas’ terrorist massacre on October 7, 2023, antisemitism has surged worldwide. Spain has been a particular flashpoint. The Observatory of Antisemitism reported a 321% rise in antisemitic incidents in 2024. At Madrid’s Complutense University, banners equated Zionism with Nazism; Israeli tourists were chased from a Vigo restaurant to shouts of “Get out of here…I’m at your service, Nasrallah.” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez lamented that Spain “doesn’t have nuclear bombs” to stop Israel’s war, while MP Gabriel Rufián likened Gaza to Auschwitz.
Criticism of Israel is legitimate; demonisation and double standards are not. Spain’s rhetoric echoes old patterns of scapegoating Jews rather than confronting radical ideologies that threaten its own society.
In 711 CE, Islamic conquests spanned from North Africa to Spain, slaughtering civilians and enslaving thousands. The Chronicle of 754 and early Muslim historian Ibn Abd al-Hakam record atrocities, including captives mutilated or cooked alive to terrorise others. Despite the modern myth of “tolerant Muslim Spain,” Jews and Christians were treated as second-class dhimmis, forced to pay a humiliating tax and forbidden basic dignity. In 1066, Muslim rioters massacred around 4,000 Jews in Granada because a Muslim ruler put his Jewish friend in a position with authority over Muslims. Historically, jihadis viewed European women as beautiful but promiscuous, and as such, the lust for European concubines became a massive motive for jihad. At the time of Muslim Spain, Franc and Galician concubines were difficult to obtain and so al-Andalus, having been conquered by Islamists and filled with vulnerable white women, became a massive sex slave hub. There white girls would be sold into slavery and tortured or killed if they refused their master’s advances.
As the caliphate fractured, Christian kingdoms in the north reconquered territory, scoring a massive victory at Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), and eventually retook Spain. Christian rulers initially allowed religious freedom, but Islamists launched multiple uprisings, impaling and decapitating Christians, and collaborated with foreign Islamic powers. After crushing another jihadist uprising in 1499, the Christians figured that as long as the Muslims followed Islam, they would always try to overthrow non-Muslim rule. In this context, Christians announced the 1501 edict saying Muslims had to leave Spain or, since atheism did not exist then, become Christians. Overnight hundreds of thousands of Muslims pretended to “convert” to Christianity, under the Islamic teaching of taqiyya as noted by a Muslim chronicler. The Christians caught on, causing them to become stricter and harsher, leading to the Spanish Inquisition.
Tragically, Jews—who posed no such threat—were swept up in the paranoia. Thousands were tortured or expelled on suspicion of insincere conversion. Centuries of warfare with Islamists had hardened Christian rulers, but the Inquisition turned that mistrust inward, branding Jews and converts as enemies within.
Today, Spain prosecutes citizens for “Islamophobia,” even when they criticise Islamist violence. Father Custodio Ballester, for example, faces up to three years imprisonment for warning that dialogue between Christians and violent Islamist ideologies is futile. Ironically, a spokesperson of the organisation which sparked the charges reportedly praised the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Islamist extremism remains a real challenge. Spain’s Muslim population has grown tenfold in thirty years to over 2.5 million; the majority are peaceful, but radicalised minorities have caused problems. The Gatestone Institution has documented the problem of Islamist crimes in Spain, ranging from sexual assaults to terrorism.
An interesting anecdote are the multiple jihadist attacks on Spanish churches. A poster with the label “Let’s slaughter”, picturing a terrorist and Spanish cathedral was shared with incitement to spread fear into unbelievers. In one instance, a jihadi screaming “Allah!” attacked a church, murdering a sacristan and injuring a priest and three others. In another incident police arrested four minor Moroccan migrants planning a church attack. Another time, a 26-year-old was arrested for bursting into a basilica and shouting Islamic slogans.
When reading such reports, it’s hard not to recall what jihadists in al-Andalus did, such as the emir of Cordoba, Abd al-Rahman, who pulled all the churches down. Or think of the caliph al-Mansur, a supposed “notorious burner of…churches.”
Further, many of the radical pro-Palestine Islamists dedicated to Israel’s destruction also have ambition for Spain’s territory. An Egyptian Islamist scholar said jihadists will take back al-Andalus from Spain just like they will take back Palestine from the Zionists. Hamas officials and Palestinian radicals have expressed desire for a global Islamic caliphate to conquer the world, including Spain. Former Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi said some of his Hamas captors desired to not only crush Israel, but create an Islamic empire that would make the world Muslim.
Despite this, Spain’s political class focuses on silencing “Islamophobia” and rewarding such Islamists with recognition of a Palestinian state, while antisemitic incidents multiply, fuelled by state rhetoric portraying Israel as a colonial aggressor. This is not surprising however, when one considers the many European nations who have appeased Islamists while harshly criticising Israel. Multiple researchers on Islamism have shown that despite the mass crime committed by jihadists, numerous European authorities have sought to appease radicals at the expense of their people.
A clear example is Britain which has suffered from Islamic extremism as seen in terrorism and the controversial grooming gangs, some of which were covered up by authorities due to fear of being labelled ‘Islamophobes’. On top of this, Britain, like Spain, recognised a Palestinian state, betraying their ally Israel, while Hamas celebrated it as a fruit of Oct 7.
The historian Alan G. Jamieson summarizes the situation:
“At a time when the military superiority of the West–meaning chiefly the USA–over the Muslim world has never been greater, Western countries feel insecure in the face of the activities of Islamic terrorists….In all the long centuries of Christian-Muslim conflict, never has the military imbalance between the two sides been greater, yet the dominant West can apparently derive no comfort from that fact.”
From resisting jihadist conquest but succumbing to antisemitic paranoia centuries ago, to repeating the same mistake by appeasing modern Islamists while vilifying Jews, Spain is following a similar pattern to much of Europe. Civilisations fall not only through invasion but through moral confusion when they forget who their true enemies are.
Michael Savvakis is a writer and journalism and arts student majoring in philosophy and international relations, focusing on Islamic history, antisemitism, and Middle Eastern geopolitics.