(29 Jan 2015) Five centuries after burning thousands of Jews at the stake, forcing them to convert to Christianity or expelling them, Portugal is granting citizenship rights to their descendants as part of an attempt to make amends.
The Portuguese Cabinet on Thursday approved a law offering dual citizenship to the descendants of those Sephardic Jews – the term commonly used for those who once lived in the Iberian peninsula.
The effective date of the law will be made public soon and similar legislation in Spain is awaiting final legislative approval.
The Portuguese rights will apply to those who can demonstrate “a traditional connection” to Portuguese Sephardic Jews, such as through “family names, family language, and direct or collateral ancestry.”
Like Spain, Portugal says its sole reason for granting citizenship is to redress a historic wrong.
“It is of double importance the signal we’re sending. Naturally, important for historical reasons – unfortunate historical reasons – but also an (important) signal regarding what is happening with Jewish communities throughout Europe,” stressed Portuguese Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz in a news conference in Lisbon on Thursday.
The Portuguese Parliament unanimously endorsed the law in 2013.
Since then, the government has been drawing up the legal details and establishing administrative procedures.
Jose Ribeiro e Castro, a lawmaker who was involved in drafting the legislation when he was head of Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, sees the persecution of Sephardic Jews as a “stain” on Portuguese history.
“We wish it had never happened,” Ribeiro e Castro said.
“Given that it did happen, and that it can be put right, we thought we ought to do so.”
After Spain drove out Jews in 1492 some 80-thousand of them crossed the border into Portugal, historians estimate.
In 1496, King Manuel I, eager to find favour with Spain’s powerful Catholic rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella, and marry their daughter Isabella of Aragon, gave the Jews 10 months to convert or leave.
When they opted to leave, Manuel issued a new decree prohibiting their departure and forcing them to embrace Roman Catholicism as “New Christians.”
Many converted, but kept their true beliefs and Jewish religious practices hidden.
Jose Oulman, President of the Israeli Community of Lisbon said on Wednesday he thought that descendants of Sephardic Jews would be entitled to a certificate of their origin, an important factor for those having trouble identifying their ancestors.
Esther Mucznik, a member of the Israeli Community of Lisbon meanwhile described the new law as “the re-establishment of justice”.
The measure is the latest step in Portugal’s modern efforts to atone for its past harsh treatment of Jews, whose ranks once numbered in the tens of thousands, but have been reduced to only about 1-thousand today.

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