An interactive website that blacklisted Jewish businesses and institutions in Spain’s Catalonia region was taken offline this week following complaints from members of the local Jewish community and intervention by public officials.
The project, known as “Barcelonaz,” appeared on the French online mapping platform GoGoCarto and was launched by an anonymous group describing itself as “journalists, professors, and students.” The initiative invited internet users to submit entries identifying individuals and organizations as “Zionist,” effectively singling them out for public targeting.
According to Enfoque Judío, more than 150 entities were listed on the site, with no distinction made between local Jewish-owned shops, communal institutions, Israeli companies, and multinational firms that conduct business in Israel.
The project’s stated aim was to “understand how Zionism operates and the forms it takes, with the intention of making visible and denouncing the impact of its investments in our territory.” Jewish community representatives, however, warned that the site amounted to collective punishment and incitement.
By Friday afternoon, the page had been removed. Its takedown was confirmed by Catalan journalist Pilar Rahola, who helped lead efforts to alert authorities to the site’s existence and demand its removal. Rahola serves as chair of the Advisory Board for Latin America of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).
Rahola said she spoke directly with Jaume Collboni, who condemned the website and pledged to work to ensure the safety of Barcelona’s Jewish population. She also held discussions with Josep Rull, who reiterated his commitment to combating antisemitism, and with Núria Parlon, who ordered a police investigation into the matter.
In a statement issued Friday, CAM Director of European Affairs Shannon Seban denounced the project in unequivocal terms.
“The mapping and boycotting of Jewish businesses in Catalonia is pure antisemitism,” Seban said. “It echoes some of the darkest chapters in history, including the prelude to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. The organizers of this initiative put a target on the backs of Spanish Jews at a time when Jews are being hunted across the globe, as seen so horrifically in Australia just three weeks ago.”
Seban stressed that while the website has been taken down, accountability remains essential. “Clear incitement to violence of this nature must not be platformed or tolerated by internet companies or government authorities,” she said, adding that CAM is working to identify those responsible for the initiative.
A similar mapping project targeting Jewish-linked businesses raised alarm in the Boston area in 2022, prompting concerns that such campaigns are becoming increasingly normalized in Western societies.
The “Barcelonaz” incident is the latest in a series of antisemitic controversies in Spain. Last May, CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center published an in-depth analysis documenting the rise of antisemitic rhetoric and activity across the country.
In July, the San Fermín festival in Pamplona was marred by antisemitic chants and displays, and in the autumn CAM condemned remarks by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in which he appeared to express “regret” that Spain did not possess “nuclear bombs” to use against Israel.
Since the October 7 Hamas massacre, Sánchez has adopted an increasingly hostile stance toward Israel, including the imposition of an arms embargo on the Jewish state.
Jewish leaders warn that the targeting of Jewish businesses under the guise of political activism represents a dangerous escalation.
“Labeling Jewish institutions and businesses as legitimate targets is not protest,” Seban said. “It is persecution — and history shows where that road leads.”