Israel has condemned the display of a fireworks-filled effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that was blown up during an Easter festival in the southern Spanish town of El Burgo, describing it as “appalling anti-Semitic hatred” and summoning Madrid’s chargé d’affaires for a formal reprimand.
The incident occurred during the town’s traditional “Burning of Judas” celebration, a long-standing local custom in which effigies of historical or contemporary figures are set ablaze. This year’s seven-meter effigy, packed with 14 kilograms of fireworks, depicted Netanyahu and was ignited before a cheering crowd on Easter Sunday.
Israeli Foreign Ministry officials accused the Spanish government of “systemic incitement” and claimed the display reflected state-backed hostility toward Israel. The condemnation comes amid already tense relations between Madrid and Jerusalem, which have worsened following Spain’s permanent withdrawal of its ambassador from Israel last month and its vocal criticism of recent US-Israeli military actions against Iran.
Spain has also been excluded from a US-backed coordination center in Kiryat Gat overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, which Israeli authorities described as retaliation for Madrid’s opposition to Israeli military conduct.
El Burgo’s mayor, Maria Dolores Narvaez, defended the effigy-burning as part of a decades-old tradition that has previously featured foreign leaders without controversy. She emphasized that the act was not intended as a political statement but as a continuation of local cultural practice.
A Spanish Foreign Ministry source told Reuters that Israel’s allegations were “completely unfounded,” reiterating Madrid’s commitment to combating antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination.
The diplomatic row underscores the deepening rift between Israel and several European governments critical of its recent military policies, with cultural and symbolic incidents increasingly fueling official tensions.
