My Porto Project 2025
I obtained Portuguese citizenship in 2022 using the “Spanish Law”. This was the Portuguese form of the Spanish Law of Return* that allowed Jews who could show that there were Sephardi with a clearly verified family tree dating back to their expulsion from Iberia in 1492/3.
I used data supplied by my late cousin Clive, and a confirmation letter from the “family” synagogue in Belem, Shaar HaShamaim (Gate of Heaven)
and processed through the Oporto synagogue, Synagogue Kadoorie Makor Haim. Due to delays caused by Covid 19, I finally obtained my Portuguese passport in 2025.
In November 2024, I made my first visit to the Porto synagogue and was received by the Holocaust Museum Curator who invited to attend a Kristallnacht event the next day. That event included 2000 students bussed in from all over the country given a tour of the Museum. I then witnessed a short concert of some Hebrew and Yiddish songs presented to the Porto Mayor and several ambassadors. I was introduced to the Male Choir Director, who being of Canadian descent.
The outcome of that meeting was that over some weeks I sent many pages of music of Hebrew Shabbat songs and klezmer tunes and Yiddish songs.
I also with the permission of the synagogue President, I organised a fund raising event in November 2025, for the Holocaust Museum in recognition of their outreach work , This entailed the creation of a specific band called Taybelech and the taking of The Righteous exhibition for two evening concerts at the iconic Fenianos Clube plus a short concert at the Holocaust Museum,
The Taybelekh band was created with musicians from Sheffield, Manchester and London. The Righteous Exhibition, is about how Christians and Muslims helped save Jews from the Nazis. It was created by Seven Hills Shul to help publicise two Mir Zaynen Do! concerts as part of Holocaust Memorial Day events in Sheffield.
The Taybelekh band in concert with the Kadoorie Shul Choir
In a place that is a memorial to Holocaust, Jews show that despite everything, they can celebrate life.
* The 2015 Spanish law of return (Law 12/2015) allowed descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled in 1492 to acquire Spanish nationality as a gesture of historical reconciliation, without renouncing their current citizenship or residing in Spain. While the application period closed in 2019, it granted citizenship to thousands who could prove Sephardic ancestry and ties to Spain, passing language and culture tests.
Key Aspects of the Spanish Law of Return (2015-2019):
- Purpose: To redress the 1492 expulsion of Jews (Alhambra Decree) and offer reparation for a “historic mistake”.
- Eligibility: Descendants of Sephardic Jews (defined by cultural, linguistic, and familial ties).
- Requirements: Applicants had to provide documentation (e.g., certificates from Jewish communities, lineage research) proving Sephardic status, pass a Spanish language test (DELE A2 or higher), and a cultural knowledge test (CCSE).
- Benefits: Dual nationality was permitted, meaning applicants did not have to renounce their original citizenship.
- Deadline: The law took effect on Oct 1, 2015, and expired on Sept 30, 2019, receiving over 132,000 applications by the deadline.
Current Status:
- The specific application process under Law 12/2015 for Sephardic Jews is no longer active, though many applications are still being processed.
- A “Carta de Naturalización” (Letter of Naturalization) is still theoretically available, but it requires proving extraordinary circumstances and Sephardic ancestry.
- Note: A similar law in Portugal, which was less restrictive, remained open longer, although it was also amended in 2022 to introduce, for example, a requirement of a proven link to Portugal.
- Spanish nationality law – This path to citizenship is in restitution for the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain. The Law establishes the right to Spanish
- Alhambra Decree – 1924, the Government of Primo de Rivera granted Spanish citizenship to a part of the Sephardic Jewish diaspora, Sephardic law of return for Spain ended in 2019. However, there is still there are still applications being processed.
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