The country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, lcalled Israel a “genocidal state.”
By Canaan Lidor, JNS
Spain’s Interior Ministry last week released a report according to which there was an 86% increase in antisemitic hate crimes in 2025 over 2024, amid an increase in attacks on Muslims and other minorities, as well.
The ministry’s “Report on the Evolution of Hate Crimes and Incidents 2025,” counted 69 hate crimes against Jews last year, compared to 37 and 23 in 2024 and 2023, respectively. The report counted 35 attacks on Muslims in 2025 compared to 15 in 2024.
The El Pais daily quoted Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, a politician for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, as stating, “This is institutionalized xenophobia, protected and promoted by public officials. Last year, the excuse was the immigration of minors. This year, it has been the naturalization.”
The data in the ministry’s report, which relies strictly on police records, are significantly lower than those published by the Observatorio de Antisemitismo en España, a watchdog on antisemitism established by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE).
The Observatorio has not released its 2025 report yet, but a Tel Aviv University report from April said it had documented 207 cases. The 2024 and 2023 Observatorio tallies were 60 and 34, respectively.
The Observatorio reports include testimonies and cases documented independently, in keeping with the practices of counterparts worldwide, including the Community Security Trust (CST) in the United Kingdom and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the United States.
According to the ministry’s methodology, antisemitic incidents accounted for 7% of 934 cases classified as “xenophobic” in 2025. Spain’s estimated 40,000 Jews constitute about 0.1% of the country’s population.
Spain is one of three European Union member countries that have intervened in South Africa’s 2023 lawsuit against Israel for its alleged genocide in Gaza, widely understood as an endorsement of the suit.
The country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, last year called Israel a “genocidal state.” Jerusalem has accused Madrid of fomenting antisemitic hatred with its anti-Israel policies.
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