My Spanish Inquisition: A Jewish Reporter Exercises His Right of Return

MADRID- The Spanish government expelled the Jews in 1492. In 2012, they said that they wanted us back. At a press conference in November that year, two ministers announced that any Sephardic Jew who wanted a Spanish passport could have one.

• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 1
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 2
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 3
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 4
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 5
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 6
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 7
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 8
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 9
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 10
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 11
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 12
• My Spanish Inquisition: Part 13
• Spain Eases Jewish Naturalization
• 7 Questions on Spain's Restitution Surprise
• Spain Offers Citizenship and Israelis Freak Out

Then nothing happened.

By late 2013, Spain had not given out any passports. No one even knew how to apply.

I have a drop or two of Sephardic blood in my veins, and my grandfather looked like a duke in an El Greco painting. So, at the end of 2013 I went to Madrid to see about becoming Spanish, and to figure out what Spain wanted with us after 520 years.

Part 1: 'Never return'

Part 2: The real Spain

Part 3: 'Everyone is Sephardic'

Part 4: 'Perhaps it was not the right decision'

Part 5: 'What about the slaves?'

Part 6: Maimonides' foot

Part 7: Good news for Lucena

Part 8: The first 23

Part 9: A Jew visits Lucena

Part 10: 'Yo El Rey'

Part 11: 'Not meat or fish'

Part 12: 'Even if you don't speak Ladino'

Part 13: Chatham Square

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at nathankazis@forward.com and on Twitter @joshnathankazis.

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