“…the Edict of Expulsion (of the Jews) of 31st March 1.492 was repealed, according to the official interpretation, by the Constitution of the First (Spanish) Republic in 1.869, which proclaimed the right of the non-Catholics to the private practice of their religion. This regime of tolerance, which lasted until 1.967, was reproduced in every Constitution since 1869, and as a result, no external sign or symbol could appear on the places of worship, nor could non-Catholics create associations as a legal conduit for their activities. Jewish Communities as such were not allowed to be formed, and prior to 1.967, operated under the fiction of nominee commercial companies, with evocative names, Knesset S.A., Beth Sion S.A. or Ajim S.A.

The law of Religious Liberty of 28th June 1967, promulgated under Franco, as a result of the Nostra Aetate Declaration of the Vatican II Council, and the need for Spain to put its legislation more in line with modern countries, maintained the principle of the Catholic faith as the official religion of the State, but allowed non-Catholics to form religious associations thereby granting them legal status. These religious associations were registered with the Ministry of Justice, which gave better guarantees than the Ministry of the Interior, too closely related to the police.

When contacts were initiated with the Ministry of Justice after the new law, I was already the spokesman of the Jewish Communities, and my first request was the repeal of the Edict of Expulsion. The reply was that the Decree had been derogated by the Constitution of 1.869, so that I asked this to be specifically mentioned in the document of registration of the Jewish Community of Madrid, of which I enclose a copy.” (Samuel Toledano, former president of the Jewish Communities in Spain, in a letter addressed to Tova Clark from Ottawa, on January 7, 1991)