The Spanish Embassy here organized a special seminar last week dealing with “Sephardic Judaism and its ties to Spain.” The seminar, which was held in the Embassy’s cultural center, was conducted in conjunction with the French Sephardic Union’s own study group “Don Isac Abrovanel.” The Spanish Ambassador to France, Miguel Solano, and the cultural attache, Gonzolo Puente Ojea, attended the opening session.
The day-long seminar was devoted to strictly academic problems such as research into various aspects of Jewish Sephardic culture, development of Ladino and ties between far-flung Sephardic communities and their Spanish “homeland.”
Embassy spokesmen said the seminar had been inspired by the Madrid Ministry of Culture and this seems to indicate a Spanish government desire to try and improve its relations with Jewish communities of Spanish origin abroad, despite the growing rapprochement between the Spanish authorities and the Arab world.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Alfredo Suarez arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after a three-day visit to Syria during which he openly endorsed most of Damascus’ political stands, including its opposition to the Camp David agreements and the autonomy talks.
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