Jewish groups condemn swastika graffiti on Maimonides statue in Cordoba

Zev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.

A statue of the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides was vandalized in Cordoba, Spain, over the weekend, drawing condemnations from Jewish organizations.

The graffiti was discovered Saturday on the base of the bronze statue in Tiberiades Plaza, in the heart of the city’s historic Jewish Quarter.

Municipal workers later covered the vandalism with a temporary sign while a specialized team worked to remove the paint.

Spain’s National Police is investigating the incident.

The Jewish Community of Barcelona called the vandalism “an attack on our shared history, on the Golden Age, on our culture, on the values of knowledge, freedom, and coexistence that his legacy represents.”

The Federation of Spanish Jewish Communities expressed its “total repudiation.”

The attack was “a stark reminder that antisemitism continues to target not only Jewish people, but also Jewish history, memory and culture,” the European Jewish Congress said on X.

The bronze statue, sculpted by Amadeo Ruiz Olmos in 1964, commemorates the 760th anniversary of the death of Maimonides, known as the Rambam in Hebrew.

The 12th-century Jewish philosopher, astronomer, and physician is best remembered for his monumental legal code, the Mishneh Torah, and philosophical treatise, The Guide for the Perplexed, both of which profoundly shaped both Jewish law and Western thought.

Spain is home to about 70,000 Jews today, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain.

A report from the Spanish government found that antisemitic offenses in the country rose 86 percent last year, with Jews targeted in 69 hate crimes and incidents in 2025.

The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.

There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.

As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.

— Stav Levaton, military reporter

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel