Spain’s Federation of Jewish communities  linked the incident to a map — created by pro-Palestinian activists and since removed from the internet — that marks Jewish or Israeli-linked places and businesses in Barcelona.

 

Several gravestones were desecrated at the Jewish cemetery in the Les Corts neighborhood of Barcelona.

The city’s Jewish community reported Sunday afternoon that a number of headstones were smashed and vandalized by unknown individuals.

A spokesperson for Spain’s Federation of Jewish Communities (FCJE) said that more than 20 graves had been desecrated.

Images published by the  community of Barcelona (CJB) show a number of vandalized graves. The disorder is widespread: marble gravestones are broken, displaced, or lying on top of other graves or on the ground. In some cases, they are cracked, and in others, fractured into several pieces, making it clear that there has been a deliberate act of destruction.

“We are aware of the incident and have opened an investigation,” a Catalan police spokesperson told Agence France Presse.

In a statement, the FCJE condemned the “despicable antisemitic act”, calling on the authorities to “show the utmost resolve in confronting antisemitism”.

It linked the incident to a map — created by pro-Palestinian activists and since removed from the internet — that marks Jewish or Israeli-linked places and businesses in Barcelona.

“With these events, the level of antisemitism takes an alarming leap, moving from words to actions, from incitement to direct attack,” the FCJE said.

The Jewish community in Barcelona blamed the Barcelona city municipality which is run by mayor Jaume Collboni who is openly hostile to anything Zionist and who is a member of the same Socialist party as anti-Israel Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Collboni denounced the incident in a statement on social media, adding that the authorities were “working to identify those responsible.’’

The head of the opposition People’s Party (PP) in Barcelona, ​​Daniel Sirera, has called for “permanent surveillance” for the cemeteries whether by security guards, community officers, or security cameras.