Editing Sephardic Jews (section)

== Distribution ==

===Pre-1492===

Prior to 1492, substantial Jewish populations existed in most Spanish and Portuguese provinces. Among the larger Jewish populations were the Jewish communities in cities like [[Lisbon]], [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]], [[Seville]], [[Málaga]] and [[Granada]]. In these cities, however, Jews constituted only substantial [[Minority group|minorities]] of the overall population. In several smaller towns, however, Jews composed [[majority|majorities]] or [[wikt:plurality|pluralities]], as the towns were founded or inhabited principally by Jews. Among these towns were [[Ocaña, Spain|Ocaña]], [[Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha|Guadalajara]], [[Buitrago del Lozoya]], [[Lucena, Córdoba|Lucena]], [[Ribadavia]], [[Hervás]], [[Llerena, Badajoz|Llerena]], and [[Almazán]].

In [[Castile (historical region)|Castile]], [[Aranda de Duero]], [[Ávila, Spain|Ávila]], [[Alba de Tormes]], [[Arévalo]], [[Burgos]], [[Calahorra]], [[Carrión de los Condes]], [[Cuéllar]], [[Herrera del Duque]], [[León (historical region)|León]], [[Medina del Campo]], [[Ourense]], [[Salamanca]], [[Segovia]], [[Soria]], and [[Villalón de Campos|Villalón]] were home to large Jewish communities or ''[[aljama]]s''. [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] had substantial Jewish communities in the Calls of [[Girona]], [[Barcelona]], [[Tarragona]], [[Valencia]] and [[Palma, Majorca|Palma]] ([[Majorca]]), with the [[Girona Synagogue]] serving as the centre of [[Jews of Catalonia|Catalonian Jewry]]

The first Jews to leave Spain settled in what is today [[Algeria]] after the [[History of the Jews in Spain#Massacres and mass conversions of 1391|various persecutions]] that took place in 1391.
[[File:Expulsión_de_los_judíos.jpg|thumb|''The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (in the year 1492)'' by [[Emilio Sala (painter)|Emilio Sala Francés]]]]

=== Post-1492 ===
The [[Alhambra Decree]] (also known as the Edict of Expulsion) was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint [[Catholic Monarchs]] of Spain ([[Isabella I of Castile]] and [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]]) ordering the expulsion of practicing Jews from the [[Kingdom of Castile|Kingdoms of Castile]] and [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]] and its territories and possessions by 31 July, of that year.<ref name="Decree-translation">{{cite web|url=http://www.sephardicstudies.org/decree.html|title=The Edict of Expulsion of the Jews – 1492 Spain|access-date=7 July 2016|archive-date=21 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221121435/http://www.sephardicstudies.org/decree.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The primary purpose was to eliminate their influence on Spain's large [[converso]] population and ensure they did not revert to Judaism. Over half of Spain's Jews had converted as a result of the [[Massacre of 1391|religious persecution and pogroms which occurred in 1391]], and as such were not subject to the Decree or to expulsion. A further number of those remaining chose to avoid expulsion as a result of the edict. As a result of the Alhambra decree and persecution in prior years, over 200,000 Jews converted to Catholicism,<ref>Gedaliah b. Jachia the Spaniard, ''Sefer Shalshelet HaKabbalah'', p. 268, Jerusalem 1962, while citing ''Sefer HaYuchasin''.</ref> and between 40,000 and 100,000 were expelled, an indeterminate number returning to Spain in the years following the expulsion.<ref>{{cite book|title=History of a Tragedy|last=Pérez|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Pérez|orig-year=2009|year=2012|page=17}}</ref>

The Spanish Jews who chose to leave Spain instead of converting [[Jewish diaspora|dispersed]] throughout the region of North Africa known as the [[Maghreb]]. In those regions, they often intermingled with the already existing [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] Arabic-speaking communities, becoming the ancestors of the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, and Libyan Jewish communities.

Many Spanish Jews fled to the [[Ottoman Empire]] where they had been given refuge. Sultan [[Bayezid II]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]], learning about the expulsion of Jews from Spain, dispatched the [[Ottoman Navy]] to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Salonika<!--Use the historical English names under the Ottomans--> (currently [[Thessaloniki]], now in Greece) and [[Smyrna]]<!--The city was known at the time in English as Smyrna until circa 1930, and the article should use the historical name even if it is now considered politically incorrect in Turkey. See Elhem Edhem's citations in [[:en:Names of Istanbul]]--> (now known in English as [[İzmir]], currently in Turkey).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Turkey.html|title=Turkey Virtual Jewish History Tour|access-date=7 July 2016 |archive-date=11 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011161052/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Turkey.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2022}} Some believe that [[Persian Jew]]ry ([[Iran]]ian Jews), as the only community of Jews living under the Shiites, probably suffered more than any Sephardic community (Persian Jews are not<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://jmarks09.wixsite.com/seedofisrael/post/dna-testing-companies-should-place-diaspora-jews-in-israel |title=DNA Testing Companies Should Place Diaspora Jews in Israel |date=16 July 2020 |access-date=1 February 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205174135/https://jmarks09.wixsite.com/seedofisrael/post/dna-testing-companies-should-place-diaspora-jews-in-israel |url-status=live}}</ref> Sephardic in descent<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gladstein |first1=Ariella L. |last2=Hammer |first2=Michael F. |title=Substructured population growth in the Ashkenazi Jews inferred with Approximate Bayesian Computation |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=36 |issue=6 |date=June 2019 |pages=1162–1171 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msz047 |doi-access=free |pmid=30840069}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://avotaynuonline.com/2020/03/the-genetic-origins-of-ashkenazi-jews/ |title=The Genetic Origins of Ashkenazi Jews |date=22 March 2020 |access-date=1 February 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415235150/https://avotaynuonline.com/2020/03/the-genetic-origins-of-ashkenazi-jews/}}</ref>).<ref>{{cite web |date= |url=https://www.jewishideas.org/article/ashkenazic-rabbi-sephardicpersian-community |title=An Ashkenazic Rabbi in a Sephardic/Persian Community |publisher=jewishideas.org |access-date=2022-02-14 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702160149/https://www.jewishideas.org/article/ashkenazic-rabbi-sephardicpersian-community |url-status=live }}</ref> Many of these Jews also settled in other parts of the Balkans ruled by the Ottomans such as the areas that are now Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia.

Throughout history, scholars have given widely differing numbers of Jews expelled from Spain. However, the figure is likely preferred by minimalist scholars to be below the 100,000 Jews - while others suggest larger numbers - who had not yet converted to Christianity by 1492, possibly as low as 40,000 and as high as 200,000 (while [[Don (honorific)|Don]] [[Isaac Abarbanel]] stated he led 300,000 Jews out of Spain) dubbed "[[Megorashim]]" ("Expelled Ones", in contrast to the local Jews they met whom they called "[[Toshavim]]" - "Citizens") in the Hebrew they had spoken.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bensoussan |first1=Georges |date=4 March 2019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJmLDwAAQBAJ&dq=200%2C000+JEWS+EXPELLED+SPAIN&pg=PA28 |title="Jews in Arab Countries: The Great Uprooting" |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-03858-6 |access-date=1 February 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205192546/https://books.google.co.il/books?id=eJmLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28&dq=200,000+JEWS+EXPELLED+SPAIN&hl=iw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiY_eKGxMjuAhWlqHEKHc1RBxEQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=200%2C000%20JEWS%20EXPELLED%20SPAIN&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> Many went to [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], gaining [[Expulsion of the Jews from Portugal|only a few years of respite from persecution]]. The Jewish community in Portugal (perhaps then some 10% of that country's population)<ref name="Kayserling">Kayserling, Meyer. "História dos Judeus em Portugal". Editora Pioneira, São Paulo, 1971</ref> were then declared Christians by Royal decree unless they left.

Such figures exclude the significant number of Jews who returned to Spain due to the hostile reception they received in their countries of refuge, notably [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]]. The situation of returnees was legalized with the Ordinance of 10 November 1492 which established that civil and church authorities should be witness to baptism and, in the case that they were baptized before arrival, proof and witnesses of baptism were required. Furthermore, all property could be recovered by returnees at the same price at which it was sold. Returnees are documented as late as 1499. On the other hand, the Provision of the Royal Council of 24 October 1493 set harsh sanctions for those who slandered these New Christians with insulting terms such as ''tornados''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pérez|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Pérez|orig-year=1993|year=2013|page=115|title=Historia de una tragedia. La expulsión de los judíos de España}}</ref>

As a result of the more recent [[Jewish exodus from Arab lands]], many of the Sephardim Tehorim from Western Asia and North Africa relocated to either Israel or France, where they form a significant portion of the Jewish communities today. Other significant communities of Sephardim Tehorim also migrated in more recent times from the Near East to [[New York City]], Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, [[Montreal]], [[Gibraltar]], [[Puerto Rico]], [[Uruguay]] and [[Dominican Republic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/sosua.html|title=Jews migration to the Dominican Republic to seek refuge from the Holocaust|access-date=2013-05-15|archive-date=6 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906010532/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/sosua.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Historia de la Comunidad |url=https://www.sefaradi.com.uy/nosotros/historia-comunidad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114070628/https://www.sefaradi.com.uy/nosotros/historia-comunidad |archive-date=2025-01-14 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=www.sefaradi.com.uy |language=es-es}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2022}} Because of poverty and turmoil in Latin America, another wave of Sephardic Jews joined other Latin Americans who migrated to the United States, Canada, Spain, and other countries of Europe.

====Permanence of Sephardim in Spain====
According to the genetic study "The Genetic Legacy of Religious Diversity and Intolerance: Paternal Lineages of Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula" at the University Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona and the University of Leicester, led by Briton Mark Jobling, Francesc Calafell, and Elena Bosch, published by the ''American Journal of Human Genetics,'' genetic markers show that nearly 20% of Spaniards have Sephardic Jewish markers (direct male descent male for Y, equivalent weight for female mitochondria); residents of Catalonia have approximately 6%. This shows that there was historic intermarriage between ethnic Jews and other Spaniards, and essentially, that some Jews remained in Spain. Similarly, the study showed that some 11% of the population has DNA associated with the Moors.<ref>{{cite news|year=2008|title=Sefardíes y moriscos siguen aquí |publisher=elpais.com|url=http://elpais.com/diario/2008/12/05/sociedad/1228431607_850215.html|newspaper=El País|access-date=21 April 2016|archive-date=3 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103091155/http://elpais.com/diario/2008/12/05/sociedad/1228431607_850215.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Sephardim in modern Iberia===
Today, around 50,000 recognized Jews live in Spain, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://porisrael.org/2019/08/20/espana-ley-de-ciudadania-para-judios-sefardies-termina-en-fracaso/|title = España: Ley de ciudadanía para judíos sefardíes termina en fracaso &#124; Por Israel|date = 20 August 2019|access-date = 9 December 2019|archive-date = 9 December 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191209170446/http://porisrael.org/2019/08/20/espana-ley-de-ciudadania-para-judios-sefardies-termina-en-fracaso/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://noticias.lainformacion.com/interes-humano/conmemoracion/50-000-judios-recuerdan-en-espana-a-las-victimas-del-holocausto_VnMin6o979qyusmIHGQwl2/ | title=La Inormación: Referente en actualidad empresarial y económica }}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The tiny Jewish community in Portugal is estimated between 1,740 and 3,000 people.<ref name="Census of Portugal 2003">{{cite web |url=http://www.ine.pt/ngt_server/attachfileu.jsp?look_parentBoui=380027&att_display=n&att_download=y |title=Census of Portugal 2003 |access-date=2013-12-16 |archive-date=14 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614093212/http://www.ine.pt/ngt_server/attachfileu.jsp?look_parentBoui=380027&att_display=n&att_download=y |url-status=live }}</ref> Although some are of Ashkenazi origin, the majority are Sephardic Jews who returned to Spain after the end of the protectorate over northern Morocco. A community of 600 Sephardic Jews live in [[Gibraltar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html |title=2006 Jewish statistics around the world |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=2013-12-16 |archive-date=21 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621102211/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2022}}

In 2011 Rabbi [[Nissim Karelitz]], a leading rabbi and Halachic authority and chairman of the Beit Din Tzedek rabbinical court in [[Bnei Brak]], Israel, recognized the entire community of Sephardi descendants in [[Palma, Majorca|Palma de Mallorca]], the [[Chuetas]], as Jewish.<ref name="jpost.com"/> They number approximately 18,000 people or just over 2% of the entire population of the island.

Of the Bnei Anusim community in [[Belmonte Municipality|Belmonte, Portugal]], some officially returned to [[Judaism]] in the 1970s. They opened a [[synagogue]], ''Bet Eliahu'', in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-jewish-story.org/belmonte.html|title=Belmonte – They Thought They Were the Only Jews|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=8 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208150254/http://www.the-jewish-story.org/belmonte.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[History of the Jews in Belmonte|Belmonte community of Bnei Anusim]] as a whole, however, have not yet been granted the same recognition as Jews that the Chuetas of Palma de Majorca achieved in 2011.

==== Spanish citizenship by Iberian Sephardic descent<!--Spanish nationality law#Sephardi Jews links here--> ====
{{See also|Spanish nationality law#Sephardi Jews}}

In 1924, the [[Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera]] approved a decree to enable Sephardi Jews to obtain Spanish nationality. Although the deadline was originally the end of 1930, diplomat [[Ángel Sanz Briz]] used this decree as the basis for giving Spanish citizenship papers to Hungarian Jews in the Second World War to try to save them from the Nazis.

Today, Spanish nationality law generally requires a period of residency in Spain before citizenship can be applied for. This had long been relaxed from ten to two years for Sephardi Jews, [[Hispanic America]]ns, and others with historical ties to Spain. In that context, Sephardi Jews were considered to be the descendants of Spanish Jews who were expelled or fled from the country five centuries ago following the [[expulsion of the Jews from Spain]] in 1492.<ref>{{cite web |year=2012 |title=Spain to ease naturalization of Sephardic Jews |publisher=Haaretz.com |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/spain-to-ease-naturalization-of-sephardic-jews-1.480175#! |access-date=31 March 2014 |archive-date=31 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331055351/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/spain-to-ease-naturalization-of-sephardic-jews-1.480175#! |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2015 the Government of Spain passed Law 12/2015 of 24 June, whereby Sephardi Jews with a connection to Spain could obtain Spanish nationality by naturalization, without the usual residency requirement. Applicants must provide evidence of their Sephardi origin and some connection with Spain, and pass examinations on the language, government, and culture of Spain.<ref name=rhodesfaqs>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhodesjewishmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/FAQs-for-Spanish-Citizenship-for-Sephardic-Jews.pdf|title=Rhodes Jewish Museum: Frequently asked questions for Spanish citizenship for Sephardi Jews. Date (embedded in the PDF): 3 September 2015|access-date=20 June 2016|archive-date=13 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213090029/http://www.rhodesjewishmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/FAQs-for-Spanish-Citizenship-for-Sephardic-Jews.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Law establishes the right to Spanish nationality of Sephardi Jews with a connection to Spain who apply within three years from 1 October 2015. The law defines Sephardic as Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula until their expulsion in the late fifteenth century, and their descendants.<ref>[http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2015/06/25/pdfs/BOE-A-2015-7045.pdf Ley 12/2015, de 24 de junio, en materia de concesión de la nacionalidad española a los sefardíes originarios de España] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722075027/http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2015/06/25/pdfs/BOE-A-2015-7045.pdf |date=22 July 2017 }} (Law 12/2015, of 24 June, regarding acquisition of Spanish nationality by Sephardis with Spanish origins) {{in lang|es}}</ref>  The law provides for the deadline to be extended by one year, to 1 October 2019; it was extended in March 2018.<ref name=extend>{{cite news|url=https://elpais.com/politica/2018/03/05/actualidad/1520265130_351979.html|title=El Gobierno amplía hasta 2019 el plazo para que los sefardíes obtengan la nacionalidad|language=es|trans-title=Government extends until 2019 the deadline for Sefardis to gain nationality|newspaper=El País|author=Juan José Mateo|date=5 March 2018|access-date=26 July 2018|archive-date=26 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726233822/https://elpais.com/politica/2018/03/05/actualidad/1520265130_351979.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was modified in 2015 to remove a provision that required persons acquiring Spanish nationality by law 12/2015 must renounce any other nationality held.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2015/09/30/pdfs/BOE-A-2015-10441.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522021722/http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2015/09/30/pdfs/BOE-A-2015-10441.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Instrucción de 29 de septiembre de 2015, de la Dirección General de los Registros y del Notariado, sobre la aplicación de la Ley 12/2015, de 24 de junio, en materia de concesión de la nacionalidad española a los sefardíes originarios de España (Instruction of 29 September 2015, from the Directorate General of Registration and Notaries, on the application of law 12/2015, regarding acquisition of Spanish nationality by Sephardis with Spanish origins)|archivedate=22 May 2017}}</ref> Most applicants must pass tests of knowledge of the Spanish language and Spanish culture, but those who are under 18, or handicapped, are exempted. A Resolution in May 2017 also exempted those aged over 70.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.justicia.sefardies.notariado.org/liferay/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=b3919b9d-3027-408b-a00b-81cbc265eea5&groupId=10089882|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802005123/http://www.justicia.sefardies.notariado.org/liferay/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=b3919b9d-3027-408b-a00b-81cbc265eea5&groupId=10089882|url-status=dead|title=Resolución del Director General de los Registros y del Notariado a las consultas planteadas por la Federación de Comunidades Judías de España y por el Consejo General del Notariado sobre dispensa pruebas a mayores de 70 años (Resolution of the Directorate General of Registration and Notaries, of the questions raised by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain and the Council General of Notaries on exempting over-70s from tests)|archive-date=2 August 2017}}</ref>

The Sephardic citizenship law was set to [[Sunset provision|expire]] in October 2018 but was extended for an additional year by the Spanish government.<ref name="AFPMar8">[https://www.timesofisrael.com/spain-extends-citizenship-law-for-sephardic-jews/ Spain extends citizenship law for Sephardic Jews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701192724/https://www.timesofisrael.com/spain-extends-citizenship-law-for-sephardic-jews/ |date=1 July 2019 }}, Agence France-Presse (8 March 2018).</ref>

The Law states that Spanish citizenship will be granted to "those Sephardic foreign nationals who prove that [Sephardic] condition and their special relationship with our country, even if they do not have legal residence in Spain, whatever their [current] ideology, religion or beliefs."

Eligibility criteria for proving Sephardic descent include: a certificate issued by the [[Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain]], or the production of a certificate from the competent rabbinic authority, legally recognized in the country of habitual residence of the applicant, or other documentation which might be considered appropriate for this purpose; or by justifying one's inclusion as a Sephardic descendant, or a direct descendant of persons included in the list of protected Sephardic families in Spain referred to in the Decree-Law of 29 December 1948, or descendants of those who obtained naturalization by way of the Royal Decree of 20 December 1924; or by the combination of other factors including surnames of the applicant, spoken family language (Spanish, Ladino, Haketia), and other evidence attesting descent from Sephardic Jews and a relationship to Spain. Surnames alone, language alone, or other evidence alone will not be determinative in the granting of Spanish nationality.

The connection with Spain can be established, if kinship with a family on a list of Sephardic families in Spain is not available, by proving that Spanish history or culture have been studied, proof of charitable, cultural, or economic activities associated with Spanish people, or organizations, or Sephardic culture.<ref name=rhodesfaqs/>

The path to Spanish citizenship for Sephardic applicants remained costly and arduous.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/world/europe/spain-approves-citizenship-path-for-sephardic-jews.html|title=Spain Approves Citizenship Path for Sephardic Jews|author=Raphael Minde|date=June 11, 2015|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=16 March 2019|archive-date=27 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227211834/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/world/europe/spain-approves-citizenship-path-for-sephardic-jews.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Spanish government takes about 8–10 months to decide on each case.<ref name="Lusi Portero-2017">{{cite web |url=http://www.rhodesjewishmuseum.org/spanish-citizenship-for-sepradic-jews |title=Spanish Citizenship for Sephardic Jews |website=Rhodes Jewish Museum |date=7 February 2017 |author=Lusi Portero |access-date=1 August 2017 |archive-date=2 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802000600/http://www.rhodesjewishmuseum.org/spanish-citizenship-for-sepradic-jews |url-status=live }}</ref> By March 2018, some 6,432 people had been granted Spanish citizenship under the law.<ref name="AFPMar8"/> A total of about 132,000<ref name=jnextend/> applications were received, 67,000 of them in the month before the 30 September 2019 deadline. Applications for Portuguese citizenship for Sephardis remained open.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spain gets 127,000 citizenship applications from Sephardi Jews |author=<!--not stated--> |website=BBC News |date=1 October 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49890620 |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002043615/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49890620 |url-status=live }}</ref> The deadline for completing the requirements was extended until September 2021 due to delays due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], but only for those who had made a preliminary application by 1 October 2019.<ref name=jnextend>{{Cite news |title=Spain extends deadline for Sephardic Jews to claim citizenship |author=<!--not stated--> |newspaper=Jewish News (UK) |date=14 May 2020 |url=https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/spain-extends-deadline-for-sephardic-jews-to-claim-citizenship/ |access-date=28 May 2021 |archive-date=16 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516002905/https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/spain-extends-deadline-for-sephardic-jews-to-claim-citizenship/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In what appeared to be a reciprocal gesture, [[Natan Sharansky]], chairman of the quasi-governmental [[Jewish Agency for Israel]], said "the state of Israel must ease the way for their return", referring to the millions of descendants of conversos around Latin America and Iberia. Some hundreds of thousands maybe exploring ways to return to the Jewish people.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>

==== Portuguese citizenship by Portuguese Sephardic descent ====
{{See also|Portuguese nationality law#Jewish Law of Return}}

In April 2013 Portugal amended its [[Portuguese nationality law|Law on Nationality]] to confer citizenship to descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews who were expelled from the country five centuries ago following the Portuguese Inquisition.

The amended law gave descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews the right to become Portuguese citizens, wherever they lived, if they "belong to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin with ties to Portugal."<ref>{{cite web |date=13 April 2013 |title=Descendants of 16th century Jewish refugees can claim Portuguese citizenship |publisher=Haaretz.com |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/descendants-of-16th-century-jewish-refugees-can-claim-portuguese-citizenship-1.515268 |access-date=29 July 2013 |archive-date=24 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024153130/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/descendants-of-16th-century-jewish-refugees-can-claim-portuguese-citizenship-1.515268 |url-status=live }}</ref> Portugal thus became the first country after Israel to enact a [[Law of Return|Jewish Law of Return]].

On 29 January 2015, the [[Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)|Portuguese Parliament]] ratified the legislation offering dual citizenship to descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews. Like the law later passed in Spain, the newly established legal rights in Portugal apply to all descendants of Portugal's Sephardic Jews, regardless of the current religion of the descendant, so long as the descendant can demonstrate "a traditional connection" to Portuguese Sephardic Jews. This may be through "family names, family language, and direct or collateral ancestry."<ref>{{cite web |year=2015 |title=Portugal to offer citizenship to descendants of persecuted Jews |publisher=Haaretz.com |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.639815 |access-date=30 January 2015 |archive-date=31 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131034615/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.639815 |url-status=live }}</ref> Portuguese nationality law was amended to this effect by Decree-Law n.º 43/2013, and further amended by Decree-Law n.º 30-A/2015, which came into effect on 1 March 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cilisboa.org/documents/LEI_27_Fev_2015_0009200093.pdf|title=Text of Decree-Law n.º 30-A/2015 of Portugal, 27 February 2015|access-date=8 November 2017|archive-date=9 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109023144/http://www.cilisboa.org/documents/LEI_27_Fev_2015_0009200093.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> «Applicants for Portuguese citizenship via this route are assessed by experts at one of Portugal's Jewish communities in either Lisbon or Porto».<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60724509 ''Roman Abramovich: Rabbi investigated over Portuguese citizenship''], BBC news, 13 March 2022.</ref>

In a reciprocal response to the Portuguese legislation, Michael Freund, Chairman of [[Shavei Israel]] told news agencies in 2015 that he "call[s] on the Israeli government to embark on a new strategic approach and to reach out to the [Sephardic] [[Bnei Anusim|Bnei Anousim]], people whose Spanish and Portuguese Jewish ancestors were compelled to convert to Catholicism more than five centuries ago."<ref>{{cite web |year=2015 |title=Portugal approves naturalization of Jews expelled centuries ago |publisher=i24news.tv |url=http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/59422-150130-portugal-approves-naturalization-of-jews-expelled-centuries-ago |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130172518/http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/59422-150130-portugal-approves-naturalization-of-jews-expelled-centuries-ago |archive-date=30 January 2015}}</ref>

By July 2017 the Portuguese government had received about 5,000 applications, mostly from Brazil, Israel, and Turkey. 400 had been granted, with a period between application and resolution of about two years.<ref name="Lusi Portero-2017"/> In 2017 a total of 1,800 applicants had been granted Portuguese citizenship.<ref name="euro">{{cite web|url=https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/portugal/1-800-sephardic-jews-get-portuguese-citizenship/|title=1.800 Sephardic Jews get Portuguese citizenship|website=European Jewish Congress|date=26 February 2018|access-date=27 July 2018|archive-date=27 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727145619/https://eurojewcong.org/news/communities-news/portugal/1-800-sephardic-jews-get-portuguese-citizenship/|url-status=live}}</ref> By February 2018, 12,000 applications were in process.<ref name="euro"/>