Twelve square kilometers, 85,000 inhabitants and interculturalism as a flag. That is the sign of identity of a small Spanish city nestled between the Alboran Sea and North Africa, 176 kilometers from the Iberian Peninsula. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Gypsies and Amazigh make up a surprising kaleidoscopic community that has lived together in a proverbial balance since the 19th century.

But let’s focus on the Sephardic collective. And let’s highlight a date: 1863. That year, the Spanish government converted Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar into a free port. This is a key fact. The change in the tax regime attracted Jewish merchants who had settled in Morocco since the expulsion of 1492. A year later, a royal order authorizes Muslims and Hebrew Hebrews to reside in Melilla without the need to request a special permit. In Morocco, at the end of the 19th century, there were more than 200,000 Sephardim in the country. Sephardimwhich constituted one of the largest communities of the Diaspora.

And that year, 1864, is identified as ground zero for the Jewish community of Melilla. Five years remained before the new Spanish Constitution, the most liberal up to that time, established religious freedom for the first time in the history of Spain. Until that precise moment, the decree of expulsion of the Jews issued by the Catholic Monarchs four centuries earlier was still in force.

In 1874, the first census of Melilla was taken, according to data supplied by Jesús F. Salafranca. And the first 27 Jews appeared, all from Tetouan, except for one citizen from Gibraltar and one from Oran. That year, the Sephardic population of Melilla was close to 5% of the total. From 1883, in successive waves, hundreds of Moroccan Jews took refuge in the Spanish square to escape the growing instability in the region. In the first third of the 20th century, the Sephardic collective reached its demographic zenith: 7,000 Jews.

THE HEBREW QUARTER Refugees start settling in the Polígono, Manolete and Hebew Quarters, the first in Spain after the 15th century expulsion. Initially, a very precarious camp was set up to accommodate Jews fleeing the massacre of Tazza. Shortly thereafter, the settlement was transformed into the Hebrew Quarter, whose streets were already reminiscent of Jerusalem, Hebron, Haifa or Tel Aviv, two or three decades before the founding of the State of Israel.

In Melilla, the Sephardic community was resurrected after a long lethargy of four centuries. Here the first synagogue was erected; the first rabbi was recorded; the first ritual bath took place; and the first Jewish cemetery was opened. All these rites make Melilla a fundamental enclave in the recovery of the Sephardic culture after a secular exile, although it was not until 1908 when the Jewish community was formally founded.

It is probable that there were Hebrews before that time, but there are no solid records to prove it. It is known that the Kabyles surrounding Melilla on Moroccan soil included Sephardic families from many centuries before. Already at the beginning of the VIII century, when the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula took place, the existence of a Jewish Berber group is dated, whose queen, Kahina, fiercely fought the advance of the Arab hosts. As a matter of fact, the flag of the Rif includes a six point star, similar to that of Israel, which many attribute to the Jewish identity of many imazighen tribes,

MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE. The Sephardic contribution to Melilla has been transcendental. Not only because it is a basic ingredient of their multi-religious society. Also for his contribution to Melilla’s culture. For example, in the field of architecture. The Mediterranean city has an extraordinary modernist treasure built at the beginning of the 20th century in the so-called Golden Triangle. More than half a thousand modernist buildings were built in the urban expansion, many of them under the protection of Jewish patronage.

One architect stood out above all others: Enrique Nieto. His first work is signed in 1909. And, together with Francisco Hernanz and Alejandro Rodríguez Borlado, he erected fabulous modernist-style buildings commissioned by wealthy Jews. The list of Sephardic patrons includes David J. Melul, Jacques Eskenazi Aguilera, Amrram J. Wahnon, Isaac Benaroch, Moises S. Cohen Laredo, Yamin Samuel Chocron, Solomon Dray Benaim, Ezer Benarroch and many others.

These unique buildings are today one of Melilla’s most outstanding tourist and cultural attractions. The Sephardic imprint also remains in the nomenclature of many of them. This is the case of the portentous Melul Building, located in the Plaza de España. It is the most important work of Melilla’s floral modernism. The building, however, was initially conceived in a classicist style. It was built in December 1906 by the architect Alejandro Rodríguez Borlado on a ground and first floor elevation. But ten years later, due to an urban modification in the area, it acquired two more floors, this time with the design and architectural direction of Enrique Nieto.

This second intervention was commissioned by businessman David J. Melul, owner of the Queen Victoria Grand Bazaar, which occupied the first floor of the block. His style mutated into modernism. The main façade alternates cast iron columns with arches and continuous balconies, and is flanked by beautiful glazed bay windows. The result is impeccable. And the Melul Building has become one of the most recognizable showcases of the city of Melilla. Also by Enrique Nieto is the Jacques Eskenazi House, located in the modernist Ensanche Avenue. It is built in solid brick and has a striking balcony accompanied by bay windows. It was built in 1909 and enlarged almost thirty years later.

The buildings of Amrram J. Wahnon and Isaac Benaroch also stand out among Melilla’s exceptional architectural ensemble. The engineers Alejandro Rodríguez Borlado, Eusebio Redondo Ballester and Emilio Alzugaray Goicoechea worked under the patronage of Jewish businessmen in the construction of numerous modernist buildings, which today define the urban identity of Melilla.

THE CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE. The central synagogue of Melilla deserves a special mention, which in 2024 will turn a century old. It was built by Yamin A. Benarroch, philanthropist, merchant and one of the most influential Jews of the Sephardic community since the 19th century. We are talking about the most beautiful Hebrew temple in Spain and one of the most unique in Europe. The building was designed by architect Enrique Nieto. The synagogue is located on the third floor, on whose façade four horseshoe arches stand out next to a Star of David. Overall, the harmonious construction integrates Arabizing elements reminiscent of the Andalusian mihrab. Curiously, a mosque in Melilla, also designed by Nieto, shares geometric elements of the synagogue, which gives an idea of the surprising interreligious coexistence that is breathed in this town on the edge of the Mediterranean.

The interior of the Jewish temple has a false vault topped by a frieze of Nasrid muqarnas. The moldings were executed by Vicente Maeso, a regular collaborator of architect Enrique Nieto. The first floor of the building was used as a commercial warehouse, while on the second floor Yamín A. Benarroch installed his home. The synagogue is called Or Zaruah or Divine Light, in reference to the lighting system provided by its numerous lamps.

Yamín A. Benarroch Benzaquén was born in Tetuán in 1882 and moved to Melilla at a very young age. His figure enjoys the recognition of the majority of the Sephardic community of Melilla thanks to his tireless philanthropic and cultural work in the city. In the Hebrew Quarter he built an entire street to provide housing for humble Jews who sought refuge in Melilla in the turbulent years at the beginning of the century. In the Spanish city he held numerous public positions, including deputy to the Municipal Court and member of the Local Board. Between 1924 and 1930 he was the highest representative of the Israeli community and promoted, among many other projects, the Colegio Hispano Israelita. He received the Grand Cross of Charity from the Spanish Government and the Medal of Peace for his care of wounded soldiers in the conflict of July 1921. In 1932 he was entered in the KKL Book of Honor, the register of the world’s most distinguished Jews.

MEM GUÍMEL. Promoted by Mordejay Guahnich, Mem Guímel is an association representing the genuine multicultural spirit that distinguishes Melilla. It is a Jewish entity although the board of directors includes Muslims like Farid, Hindus like Ramis, Gypsies like José and Christians like Paco. Only one Chinese is missing to complete the multi-ethnic mosaic that characterizes the city. The name of the association pays homage to a Jewish ship that was shipwrecked off the coast of Morocco in the last years of the Spanish Protectorate.

The tragic accident occurred on the night of January 10, 1961. The ship was chartered by Israel to transport 43 Sephardim from the Maghreb to the newly created Hebrew state. In those years thousands of Jews left Morocco, generally through Ceuta and Melilla, via Gibraltar and later France. That night a violent storm was raging in the Strait of Gibraltar. The ship left Melilla and sailed parallel to the coast towards Gibraltar. But off Al Hoceima, a sea blow broke the vessel and its 43 crew members, who were sleeping in the hold, were unable to reach safety. Only the captain and the engineer were spared. Mem Gimel means “forty-three” in Hebrew.

The association was founded in 2007 and its agenda is full of multi-religious and multi-cultural events, from a Hindu recital to a gypsy celebration, in keeping with the kaleidoscopic nature of this amazing city located on the North African coast.