In a historic transfer, the parliament of Spain’s Balearic Islands has formally acknowledged the long-standing “marginalization and discrimination” endured by the native Crypto-Jewish group, generally known as “chuetas,” on the island of Majorca. This profound acknowledgment, introduced in mid-September, has been met with widespread approval, prompting the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain to advocate for the inclusion of chueta historical past within the curriculum of native colleges.
At this time, the descendants of the chuetas on Majorca have courageously embraced and proudly shared their Jewish heritage, marking a major departure from a historical past fraught with persecution, concern, and the burden of secrecy that spanned a number of centuries. Tracing their lineage again to ancestors who had been subjected to persecution and violence in the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the time period “chuetas” probably originates from the Mallorquín phrase “xueu,” that means Jew within the native Catalan dialect. Linguists additionally speculate that it might have derived from “xulla” (pig fats), as a reference to the general public consumption of pork, which was a manner for conversos to display their renunciation of Judaism throughout medieval Spain.
Regardless of nearly all of Spanish Jews having transformed to Catholicism nicely earlier than the formal expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, chuetas continued to endure suspicion and hostility from their neighbors, usually falling sufferer to violence for generations. Their exclusion from intermarriage with different Majorcan households fostered a tight-knit group that covertly maintained their Crypto-Jewish customs, together with prayers and syncretic non secular observances carried out outdoors Monti Sion, a Catholic church constructed atop the previous important synagogue in Palma de Majorca’s Jewish Quarter.
The historic narrative of the chuetas has garnered heightened consideration in Spain for the reason that passing of Francisco Franco in 1975. Franco’s staunchly pro-Catholic regime had actively propagated anti-chueta sentiments, however within the subsequent years, the group has skilled a resurgence and a newfound sense of acceptance.
In an extra step towards reconciliation, the Majorcan authorities issued an official apology in Could 2011 for the tragic occasion of 1691, generally known as the “burning of the Jews,” carried out by the Spanish Inquisition, ensuing within the deaths of almost 40 Jews earlier than a crowd of roughly 30,000 spectators.
Further reparations materialized in September of the identical 12 months, with an Israeli rabbinic ruling from the Bnei Brak Rabbinical Courtroom allowing chuetas to return to Judaism or to migrate to Israel with out present process formal conversion, supplied they may present proof of their Jewish ancestry. As a result of group’s apply of endogamy, solely 15 household surnames have endured, together with the famend summary artist Joan Miró’s household identify, Miró, together with Pico, Aguiló, Fuster, Martí, Picó, Pomar, and Segura.
In a extra up to date context, the chueta group has revived its custom of publicly commemorating vital Jewish holidays, a apply not witnessed on the island for over 5 centuries. Starting with the celebration of Purim in 2019, the group went on to assemble a public sukkah in 2021, adopted by a notable Hanukkah lighting ceremony in 2022.
Presently, estimates place the chueta group’s measurement between 800 and 1,000 members, emphasizing the enduring resilience and cultural significance of this historical but resurgent inhabitants inside the Balearic Islands.
