Spain: Street sign honoring local Jew vandalized

Photo: Diario el Sur

Via JTA:

A street name sign honoring a Spanish Jew was damaged in the southern Spanish city of Torremolinos amid a debate over the municipality’s decision to celebrate Hanukkah.

The sign named for David Haim Melul, the founder of the local Jewish community, was knocked down last week, two months after it was put up, the online edition of the local newspaper Diario el Sur reported.

The vandalism occurred as local politicians were debating the placing this month of a neon sign reading “Happy Hanukkah,” which critics said was in violation of the separation between religion and government.

The criticism comes from delegates of the center-right Popular Party to the municipal government of Torremolinos, where one of the ruling parties is the left-leaning Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, the newspaper reported. The local politicians are unhappy over the absence of a municipal nativity scene to celebrate Christmas. Torremolinos has about 800 Jews.

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