When the law for the separation of the Church and State in Spain was passed, including provisions for the secularisation of cemeteries, the Jewish press abroad expressed the fear that the law might make it impossible to maintain separate Jewish cemeteries.
The J.T.A. representative here is now informed in authoritative quarters as follows: Before the proclamation of the Republic the dead of Jewish faith were buried in the ordinary civil cemetery. A few months ago the Jewish Community of Barcelona obtained a special section of the cemetery at Las Corts, a suburb of Barcelona, which has been divided off for Jewish interment. This Jewish cemetery is maintained by the Barcelona municipality, and the Jewish Community is not required to contribute towards its upkeep. Jewish dead will be buried in this cemetery, at the expense of their family, and if the family is unable to pay the Jewish Community will be required to bear the cost. Only three burials have taken place so far in this new cemetery.
The establishment of the Republic is, therefore, in no way prejudicial to the exercise of Jewish customs, the statement days, but on the contrary, the Jews are given greater liberty and facilities for freely exercising their religion, in a way that was not possible in the days that preceded the separation of the State and the Catholic Church.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
