Spain has revealed both sides of its face in recent weeks.
Insular, intolerant Spain reared its ugly head when 18,000 Spaniards posted nearly 18,000 antisemitic comments after Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Real Madrid by a margin of 98-86 in the final game of the Euroleague basketball championship.
Enlightened Spain surfaced when Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz warned that people who post such xenophobic and hate-filled messages in the future could face arrest. He was alluding to the fact that Spain has a law that forbids the incitement of hatred.
It would seem that the world’s oldest and most malignant hatred, antisemitism, is still a fairly significant phenomenon in Spain, whose image was forever tarnished by the Inquisition and the expulsion of its Jewish citizens.
According to a global survey commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League, 29 percent of Spanish adults hold prejudicial stereotypes about Jews. And Spanish websites and blogs that promote racism have risen in number from 300 to 400 five years ago to 1,500 today, says the Madrid-based Movement Against Intolerance.
On the other hand, in an attempt to make amends for the past, the Spanish government has invited Sephardic Jews from around the world who can trace their ancestry back to Spain to apply for citizenship.
And in yet another development that should be applauded, the Spanish town of Castrillo Matajudios, which means Camp Kill Jews, has voted to change its name to Mota de Judios, or Hill of the Jews.
Judging by the positive and negative news that has been coming out of Spain lately, the struggle for Spain`s soul has yet to be resolved.