Memos 
Live events & webinars 
Trend Reports
Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida offered on Thursday Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai to form a twin city partnership after Barcelona announced it was suspending its own agreement with the Israeli city. In a video posted on Twitter, conservative Martínez-Almeida said, “It’s a great occasion to show Tel Aviv, and by extension all of Israel, that Madrid remains clear on which is the correct side to stand on. Clear that we need to strengthen our relations with a democracy, a state of law, like Israel. We won’t go along, won’t agree with any behavior which smells of antisemitism. This has no place in our society.”
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Barcelona’s Mayor Ada Colau claimed that more than 100 organizations and over 4,000 citizens demanded she defend the human rights of Palestinians.
“For this reason, as mayor, I have written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform him that I have suspended temporarily the institutional relationship between Barcelona and Tel Aviv,” said Colau, arguing that Israel was guilty of “apartheid” and the “flagrant and systematic violation of human rights.”
In her letter to Netanyahu, Colau wrote that her office was asked in a petition by Barcelona residents to “condemn the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people, support Palestinian and Israeli organizations working for peace, and break off the twinning agreement between Barcelona and Tel Aviv.”
Barcelona and Tel Aviv signed a twin city agreement in 1998 as part of a trilateral twinning initiative with Gaza City. The project was announced at the time by then-Tel Aviv Mayor Roni Milo after meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and in an attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
Tourism Minister Haim Katz asked Colau to reverse her decision, noting that the bilateral relations between the two countries are strong and both Israel and Spain would like to see the number of respective tourists increase.
"This is a regrettable and fundamentally incorrect decision; politics and tourism must be separated. The internal conflict in Israel is challenging; we work to cultivate an Arab society that seeks to integrate into the country. The army operates with morality and wisdom while maintaining strict adherence to human rights," argued Katz.
Like other tourists, Israelis love Barcelona for its architectural marvels, vivid street life and restaurants. But they are also attracted to ancient Jewish sites such as Barcelona’s renovated synagogue — one of the oldest in Europe. Last year, the city of Barcelona launched two campaigns designed to promote Jewish and Israeli tourism: the “Barcelona Connects Israel” initiative, which promotes contacts between tourism operators from both countries, and the “Shalom Barcelona” digital platform, which highlights Jewish heritage in the city. Last summer, the city opened up the world’s first Michelin-starred kosher restaurant.
