We have now driven down the centre of Spain from Madrid, visiting Toledo and then on to Cordova before visiting Seville and Malaga on the Costa del Sol. In all of these places we were able to find remnants of Jewish life that existed here before the Inquisition. It is a sad fact, but true, that Jewish life here was extensive before it was completely destroyed between 1390 and the 1600s when the Jewish population was forced to leave or convert. Even though every town seems to have some small remnant of it's jewish past,the current popultion seem largely ignorant of the jewish history. It does get mentioned, but only in passing. If you are prepared to look for the history, you can find it.
Having arrived in Valencia now, and not finding many references to its jewish past, I found this link http://travel-watch.com/jewsofvalencia.htm which is indicative of much of Spain's attitude to it's Jewish past. I'm sure my mother would have loved this trip to Spain, as her ancestors were from here before the Inquisition. They eventually arrived in the Netherlands in the 1600s after the Inquisition was brought to bear on the Jewish population here
