A Jewish American woman living in Barcelona said she and her partner were denied entry to thermal baths because one of them was wearing a Star of David necklace, according to a video shared on X by Israeli advocate Hen Mazzig, who documents antisemitic incidents worldwide.
The woman filmed the exchange with staff at the site. In the video, one employee is heard saying she has a problem with Zionists before demanding that the Jewish woman leave. Calls of “free Palestine” can be heard in the background.
Entry barred to two women at Barcelona spa because one is Jewish
At the end of the video, the woman says, “Welcome to Barcelona.” She later filed a complaint at a local police station.
Mazzig wrote that what made the incident even more heartbreaking was “the way bystanders chose to remain silent,” adding that their inaction enabled what he described as “a moment devoid of humanity.”
Jewish communities in Spain have reported a sharp rise in antisemitic rhetoric, incidents and attacks since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre, with figures rising by 321% in 2025. Experts have pointed to the influence of anti-Israel activism on the climate in the country.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has also faced criticism over his strongly anti-Israel policies. Sánchez, one of the most vocal opponents of the war with Iran, said U.S. and Israeli strikes were “reckless and illegal.” He previously accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of wanting to inflict on Lebanon the same level of damage and destruction that Israel caused in Gaza.
Sánchez said the war was intended, among other things, to “undermine international law, destabilize the Middle East and bury Gaza under the rubble of oblivion.”
He also accused the United States and Israel of launching the attack while Washington had “a nuclear agreement in hand,” which he said was rejected “without explanation, without warning allies, without legal backing and without defined goals.”