On December 4, the day before the celebration in Zamora, I attended Madrid's sixth annual Hanukka lighting ceremony, organized by Centro Sefarad-Israel. Each year the turnout for this holiday increases. This time there could well have been a thousand people. Madrid Mayor Ana Botella called the Festival of Lights “part of Madrid's cultural heritage.” Ironically, though, while high-school children sang a history lesson, there were shouts in the distance of “Eso es mentira, eso es Palestina” (That's a lie, that's Palestine). Police kept the shouters at bay and eventually dispersed them.
Candle lighting festival in Madrid(photo credit: CENTRO SEFARD-ISRAEL)