Xueta Island

A secret history of Jewish heritage on the Spanish island of Mallorca is exhumed in this intriguing investigation. After the Inquisition exiled them from Spain in the fifteenth century, Jews on Mallorca were forcibly converted to Catholicism or burned alive. Yet many still practiced Judaism in secret. These Crypto-Jews, known as Xuetas, suffered centuries of discrimination, even unable to marry outside of their people. As Jewish life makes a tentative return to the Balearic Islands, a stifled minority is reintroduced to half-remembered culture and traditions handed down under duress across generations. This illuminating tour of Mallorca’s medieval Jewish quarter seeks to reconcile the painful past with a vision of a brighter, more inclusive future.