Madrid Synagogue & Museum

A two-hour tour of the Jewish Community of Madrid, starting at the Beth Yaacov Synagogue. Opened in 1968, this sanctuary was the first custom-built synagogue erected in Spain since the 1492 expulsion. Its interior layout and Hebrew inscriptions are modeled after the medieval Synagogue of El Tránsito in Toledo, bridging Spain’s past with its present.

Next, you will explore the Museum of the History of the Community, which traces the community’s modern journey back to its formal foundation in 1917, the year of the establishment of the first small prayer room in Madrid. Today, this community of 5,000 members remains anchored in the Sephardic world, largely shaped by mid-20th-century migrations from North Africa—particularly Morocco and Tangier—which brought Judeo-Spanish traditions back to the Iberian Peninsula.

Your tour guide will be an active member of the local community. As you explore, the guide will share personal stories of keeping Jewish traditions alive in Spain, offering you a firsthand look at Madrid’s living Sephardic culture.

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Synagogue & Museum Specifics

The visit lasts 2 hours, and it can be tailored to your schedule.

Our tours are only available in private mode and can be scheduled for the day and time that best suits you.

You will stand in the exact sanctuary where Queen Sofía of Spain made a historic Shabbat visit in 1976, marking the first royal visit to a Spanish synagogue in modern history.

You will also view rare archival documents, including early 20th-century Spanish passports granted to Sephardic families returning to the capital. Your community guide will share personal memories of belonging this unique, bilingual environment where Spanish, Haketia, and Ladino traditions blended.