Oral Histories and Tourism
Spain's economy has long been dominated by its tourism sector which, since the late 1970s, has risen to the top of the country's economic drivers. Tourism of Jewish spaces is quite popular and while there is really little information about Spain's Jewish history at first glance (or internet search), there is a wide variety of "Jewish quarter tour of Barcelona" done by non-Jewish organizations. During my trip to Spain, I explored tourism done by these non-Jewish organizations (including Sandeman's and Girona Experience) and the few Jewish-led tours as well. Below I have reflected on each of my experiences.
Sandeman's Free Walking Tours
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photo courtesy of neweuropetours.eu
The Jews were really smart people, rather than building up they built down."
Sandeman's Tour Guide
During my stay in Barcelona, I signed up for one of Sandeman's Free Walking Tours which occurs every day at Placa Sant Jaumes at 2 pm in English. The tour guides provide a free walking tour and are paid by people's tips.
The tour I signed up took place in the Gothic (Jewish) quarter and outlined the quarter's history throughout the ages. Our tour guide was a comical and entertaining spokesman who knew how to captivate his audience. He had a vast knowledge of Barcelona's broad history and of the art scene as well. With that said, the tour made no mention of, even when standing on the very streets of the Jewish Call, of Jewish people's history in the Gothic quarter. In some instances, the mention of Jews felt explicitly avoided when we were standing right below the sign at 1 Carrer de Marlet and other signs put up by MUHBA Call. When speaking to our guide about the Jewish quarter personally, he seemed to know much about the community's history in the Gothic quarter (especially in terms of historical arrival and departure from the Call) and even deemed that "the Jews were really smart people" when faced with adversity or difficult laws. For example, he explained that all synagogues in the Call had to be lower than the lowest church "so rather than building up, they built down" which explains the vastness of the Old synagogue's space underground.
Although, Sandeman's Tours may be great for a traveler looking for a solid first impression of the Gothic quarter, it is clear that the Jewish quarter's history was not important enough to make a mention despite arguably being the core of the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona.
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rounded plaza in the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona
urban cultours
There is still a lot of work to be done
Dominique Tomasov Blinder
A trained architect, Jewish heritage advocate, and founder of Urban Cultours
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Jewish Call of Barcelona
urban cultours
"There is still a lot of work to be done." These are some of the first words that Dominique mentioned while on our tour. Dominique Tomasov Blinder is a trained architect, Jewish heritage advocate, and founder of Urban Cultours- a project created to shed light and revisit the often forgotten but expansive history of Jews in Barcelona from a present Jewish perspective. The tours provide a comprehensive history of the Call and function more like a dialogue than a traditional tour. It feels as though one is being spoken with rather than spoken to. The tour flowed with the rhythm of both Dominique's knowledge and my questions. Most importantly, the Urban Cultours project reemphasizes the presence, both historical and living, of Jews in Barcelona and creates a holistic experience that is completely unlike the tours of the Jewish quarter provided by non-Jewish tour guides or organization. To sign up for one of Dominique's tour or to learn more, please visit urbancultours.com
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photo courtesy of urbancultours.com
girona experience
As a part of my exploring the tourism industry's perspective on Jewish history, I took a tour via Airbnb/Girona Experience of Jewish Girona. My tour guide, although non-Jewish herself, had a real desire to learn about the Jewish community and had a very clear idea of Jewish chronology in Girona. The tour guide traced Jewish history in Girona to the 880s. There were several indicators of Jewish community's presence including documents and tombstones from the Jewish cemetery at Montjuic and from the aljamas (or the government structures under direct rule of King). We toured the Arab baths which were apparently shared by the Jews for cleaning rituals as their mikveh. Girona has an impressive amount of these mikvehs around the city which unlike Barcelona, are extremely well preserved. She explained that following the attacks in Sevilla in 1391, on St Llorenc (St Lawrence) day, the Jews asked for protection from the ongoing attacks and were placed in a tower and the height of city where they stayed for 17 weeks. In 1415, the gates of the Jewish quarter were closed and not reopened until 1975 after the fall of Franco. This is part of the reason why the Call remains so well preserved in comparison to Barcelona's Call.
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Jewish Call, Girona
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Girona
As a part of the tour, beyond outlining the Jewish medieval history of Girona, the tour guide also led us through the Jewish Museum of Girona which you can read more about here. The tour guide had a comprehensive understanding of the Jewish (living) people which was somewhat refreshing. There were some comments made about how kosher eating "is too complicated" or that certain rituals were "too complex," but overall, this particular tour guide made a clear effort to consult rabbis, videos, and articles when she did not know about a Jewish tradition. I was also surprised to see the icons on the ground of La Red de Juderias in Girona as I did not see any in Barcelona. The movement has had a controversial reputation (which you can read more about on this timeline) and apparently, was not accepted in Barcelona due to feelings that the movement felt pro-Spanish despite the movement's start in Girona of all places. A non-Jewish couple attended the tour with us and met the tour guide with immense curiosity and openness but likewise, had never met a Jewish person beyond myself in that moment. Tours like the one provided by Girona experience are clearly important to the memory landscape of Girona which is so centrally occupied by its Jewish Call. However, I think it can be astonishing how little is known about Jewish people, not as products of the medieval era but as a living community.
*below are some more pictures from the tour: please click on each for captions and details!
