Sephardim head back to homelands Spain/Portugal

The ancestors of David Mendoza were among the hundreds of thousands of Jews tortured, executed, expelled or forced to convert during the Inquisition’s reign of terror.

A Spanish royal decree ordering Jewish expulsion in 1492 set off a chain of events that led his family to cross the continent in search of sanctuary, before finally landing in England in the 18th century.

Now Mendoza, a genealogist from London, is helping descendants like him to return to their ancestral homelands as Spain and Portugal attempt to atone by offering citizenship. Portugal’s scheme has become the focus for the Sephardim – Jews with roots in Iberia – after the Spanish deadline passed in October. Lisbon, which gives no time limit, has received 33,000 applications and about a third have already been approved. It could swell the country’s 4000-strong Jewish population, two-thirds of whom live in Lisbon.

‘‘People apply for a variety of reasons, of which curiosity is perhaps the most cited,’’ Mendoza said. ‘‘Some people apply due to Brexit. Before the UK election there was a surge in interest due to fears of a Corbyn government. A couple of people have mentioned starting businesses in Spain or Portugal.’’

The less bureaucratic schemes in Lisbon have also helped: Spain’s offer, which received 132,000 submissions, required applicants to pass tests in Spanish language and culture, which mostly limited it to those living in Hispanic countries in South America.

Michael Rothwell, a leading member of the Jewish community in Porto who helps to assess applications before they are submitted, said Portugal realised that such demands shut off many with a rightful claim.

‘‘Portuguese lawmakers realised that it would be absurd to impose such requirements on the descendants of people expelled centuries ago, and as a result we have received applications from over 60 countries,’’ he said. ‘‘The number of people interested has risen dramatically.’’

The majority of successful applicants for Portugal’s offer, which began, like Spain’s, in 2015, were initially from Turkey but Israel now constitutes about 90 per cent of the total. Many were mindful of how conditions in any country can change and so wished to have a second passport as a ‘‘Plan B’’, Rothwell said.

Mendoza’s research has helped dozens of people to obtain the documents necessary to gain citizenship. He also discovered that he shared a common history with the former footballer Mark Wright when researching his family for the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are? ,in which he revealed that one of their ancestors was burned at the stake in Lisbon in 1731.

Mendoza’s family history mirrors the fate of many of the Sephardim. They moved from Spain to Portugal in 1492 and then migrated back after their new home was annexed by Philip II in 1580.

His direct ancestor, David de Mendoza, was arrested by the Inquisition in 1696 and accused of secretly practising his religion. At the age of 36 he was tortured for two years in Seville before escaping to Amsterdam. His family reached England in 1714 where, later, it produced the Regency bare-knuckle boxer Daniel Mendoza.

The Times