What is the history of the Jewish community in Gibraltar?
Short answer
Jews have lived in Gibraltar continuously since the early 18th century, arriving mainly from Morocco soon after the British capture of 1704, despite a Treaty of Utrecht clause barring them. The 2022 census recorded 1,070 Jewish residents, just under 3% of the population, served by four synagogues.
Detailed answer
Medieval roots
A Jewish presence in Gibraltar is recorded as early as 1356. In 1474 the Duke of Medina Sidonia handed Gibraltar to a group of conversos, Jews who had converted to Christianity, from Córdoba and Seville, in return for maintaining its garrison. They were expelled two years later.
Settlement under British rule
After the British capture in 1704, Jewish merchants from Tetouan in Morocco settled to supply the garrison, which relied on Morocco for food and supplies. They were joined by Jews active in the Morocco trade from London, Livorno and Amsterdam. The Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 prohibited Jews and Moors from living in Gibraltar, and Jews were formally expelled in 1717.
They soon returned. In 1724 the Governor, General William Hargrave, granted land in Engineer Lane to the merchant Isaac Nieto, who built the first synagogue there, Shaar Hashamayim. Nieto is regarded as the founder and first religious leader of the modern community. Jews gained the legal right of residence in 1749, and by the mid-18th century the community numbered around 600, about a third of the civilian population.
The community marked 300 years of formal presence in 2024, including the 300th anniversary of the Great Synagogue on Thursday 7 November 2024.
The Second World War
Like other Gibraltarians, Jewish families were caught up in the wartime evacuation of the civilian population, which sent people to London and elsewhere in the UK, Madeira and Jamaica, with others in Tangier and Spain. Many did not return for years, and some settled permanently in Britain.
Public life
Sir Joshua Hassan, from a Jewish Gibraltarian family, led the City Council from 1945 and became Gibraltar's first Chief Minister in 1964. He served from 1964 to 1969 and again from 1972 to 1987. His nephew Solomon Levy became Gibraltar's first non-political civic Mayor, serving from 2008 to 2009.
Today
The 2022 census recorded 1,070 Jewish residents. The community maintains four synagogues and its own schools, including the long-established Talmud Torah. Guided tours of the Flemish Synagogue on Line Wall Road can be arranged.