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New Name for Spanish Village
By R. Rosen
Good news, for a change, in contrast to the rising anti- Semitism throughout Europe: the Spanish village previously called Castrillo Matajudios, which translates to "Death to the Jews", decided to change its name after 400 years. This village, with a population of only 56, has voted for a change of name by a large majority.
29 of its residents supported the name change, headed by Mayor Lorenzo Rodrigez, as opposed to 19 votes. The rest abstained. The new name will probably be "Hill of Jews," but this will be finally determined at the next council meeting to be held in June. The media explained that the new name, Castrillo Monte de Judios, is actually similar to the village's original name before the Inquisition, where Jews converted to Christianity under duress from the Church, and in their effort to demonstrate their rejection of Judaism, changed the name of the village. Others claim that the origin of the name change of yore was simply a spelling error!
Before the vote, the mayor addressed the residents, saying that the village was being accused of anti-Semitism when its citizens are none other than the descendants of the original Jewish community that lived there centuries ago.
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