Barcelona mayor severs ties with twin city of Tel Aviv, citing Israeli ‘apartheid’

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has announced that the city is no longer twinned with Tel Aviv, citing claims that Israel is guilty of “apartheid,” as well as “flagrant and systematic violation of human rights.” 

Barcelona and Tel Aviv entered the relationship in 1998 — when both cities jointly signed a “twin city” agreement with Gaza City. Colau’s decision comes less than a year after Barcelona launched two linked campaigns — “Shalom Barcelona” and “Barcelona Connects Israel” to appeal to Jewish and Israeli tourists interested in exploring their heritage. Last summer, the city opened up the world’s first Michelin-starred kosher restaurant.

The decision also comes less than a year after Barcelona suspended a twinning relationship with St. Petersburg in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“More than 100 organizations and over 4,000 citizens have demanded that we defend the human rights of Palestinians and for this reason, as mayor, I have written to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform him that I have suspended temporarily the institutional relationship between Barcelona and Tel Aviv,” Colau, a left-wing politician who has been mayor of Barcelona since 2015, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain condemned the decision, which it called “sophisticated antisemitism.”

In her letter to Netanyahu, dated Wednesday, Colau wrote that the petition from her constituents requested that her office “condemn the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people, support Palestinian and Israeli organizations working for peace and break off the twinning agreement between Barcelona and Tel Aviv.”

The proposal to end the twinning relationship was brought to the mayor’s office and the Barcelona City Council by a group called End Complicity with Israel, which has allied itself with and also aligns with other social organizations focused on anti-racism, LGBTQ rights, and feminist advocacy. The proposal was initially on the agenda for a Jan. 27 plenary meeting of the council but was postponed because the debate coincided with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The debate was rescheduled for Feb. 24, but groups supporting the proposal demanded a quicker response from the mayor’s office.

What was the reaction from the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain?

The Federation of the Jewish Communities of Spain, the official representative of the Spanish Jewish community, had spoken out recently against the decision.

“We are concerned about the boycott campaign you are leading under the slogan ‘Barcelona says no to apartheid,’” the group said in a statement directed at the mayor. “Barcelona and Tel Aviv are open and welcoming societies, leading cities that attract startup investments and tourism. We call on the city council to allow Barcelona to continue to build bridges of harmony and avoid promoting a discourse of rejection and isolation.”

Jewish groups and Israeli leaders said they are "concerned," by the decision of Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau to cancel the twinning of her city with Tel Aviv, citing claims that Israel is guilty of “apartheid,” as well as “flagrant and systematic violation of human rights.” 

"The Mayor of Barcelona has made an illogical and blatant antisemitic decision that goes against the best interests of the city's residents," said Robert Singer, chairman of the Center for Jewish Impact and member of the board of governors of Combat Antisemitism Movement. "This decision was not put to a democratic vote by the municipal council, and we urge Barcelona's residents to express their outrage on this matter. We are currently finalizing two joint petitions with over ten thousand signatures, surpassing those of BDS and anti-Israel groups. We call on more residents to take action in preserving this relationship."

President of the Conference of Rabbis of Europe, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt said  that "the challenge to the legitimacy of the existence of the nation state of the Jewish people also undermines the sense of personal security of the Jewish communities in Europe, and of the Jewish community in Barcelona in particular." He said that "Tel Aviv is one of the most innovative and advanced cities in the world which also promotes values of tolerance, inclusion and acceptance of the other. 

"The decision to boycott Tel Aviv is puzzling to me," Goldschmidt continued. "We have seen in the past how actions of delegitimization against the State of Israel increased the number of cases of antisemitism in that country. We are following the irresponsible decision taken by the Barcelona City Council with concern." 

The Conference European Rabbis said it "fully supports the members of the Jewish community and its Rabbi, Daniel Ashkenazi. We will use all means to maintain their safety."

MK Dan Illouz (Likud) also responded to the decision and said "Severing ties with a partner country while continuing to support the terror in Gaza is hypocrisy at its most alarming state. Israel and Spain have always enjoyed a fruitful relationship in regards to tourism and economics. I urge Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau to reconsider this stance."

Tourism Minister Haim Katz asked the mayor of Barcelona to reverse the decision, stating "Our relations with Spain are strong, Israeli tourists love traveling to Spain and we warmly welcome Spanish tourists. We want to see an increase in tourism from Spain. This is a regrettable and fundamentally incorrect decision, politics and tourism must be separated. The internal conflict in Israel is challenging, we work to cultivate Arab society that seeks to integrate into the country. The army operates with morality and wisdom, while maintaining strict adherence to human rights."

Barcelona and Tel Aviv entered the relationship in 1998 — when both cities jointly signed a “twin city” agreement with Gaza City. Colau’s decision comes less than a year after Barcelona launched two linked campaigns — “Shalom Barcelona” and “Barcelona Connects Israel” to appeal to Jewish and Israeli tourists interested in exploring their heritage. Last summer, the city opened up the world’s first Michelin-starred kosher restaurant.