Two Jewish American women were denied entry to an LGBTQ sauna in Barcelona because they were wearing Star of David necklaces.
A video, recorded by one of the women and posted online, showed staffers at the venue, in accented English, telling the married couple, who reportedly live in Barcelona, that “the question is not Jewish, is Zionist.”
One of the women responded, “They are kind of the same thing.”
They were then removed from the venue, with one of the staffers saying, “We don’t condone genocide either.”
“We don’t either,” one of the Jewish women responded.
Another woman told the couple: “Free Palestine, please leave.”
Multiple bystanders appeared to watch the incident unfold on Friday evening without intervening.
The couple then attempted to talk with the security guard at the venue, explaining they had been kicked out because they were Jewish and asking if they could go back inside.
“She saw our Jewish star and said ‘you can’t be here,’” one of the women said.
One of the staffers then told the guard to ignore them.
After the confrontation became increasingly heated, the two women eventually left.
“Just so everyone knows, I’m wearing a Jewish star, and she asked if I am a Zionist and said I couldn’t come in,” one of the women told the line of people waiting outside the venue before they walked off.
One of the women, who gave her name as Mika, told Channel 12 that at first they had no trouble entering the venue, but very soon, a staffer approached them about their necklaces.
“We were a little surprised as we didn’t know anyone and didn’t speak about any controversial subject. We only stood in line and entered the event,” she related in a Sunday interview.
“As soon as I heard the word ‘Zionist,’ I knew that there would be problems,” Mika said. It was at that point that she took out her phone and began recording the confrontation.
She said she was disappointed that no one came to their defense, describing herself as the kind of person who always tries to offer assistance when it is needed.
“It was hard for me to see that no one intervened,” Mika said.
However, she remained defiant.
“I know that we will continue to go to events with the Star of David chain,” she said.
The pair, she said, filed a complaint with the police, and they are considering seeking legal counsel for further steps they may take.
The Jewish Community of Barcelona (CIB) umbrella group condemned the incident, writing on X that it “should shame our society.”
No citizen of Barcelona “should be excluded for their religion, origin, or identity,” CIB said. “We cannot normalize or tolerate this reality. It is unacceptable.”
It called for “the immediate intervention” of hate crime and discrimination authorities.
For its part, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE) strongly condemned the disgraceful incident and stated that no one in Spain should face discrimination because of their religion, origin or identity. It added that this blatant act of antisemitism violates fundamental rights and has no place in a democratic society.
In a statement, the FCJE further highlighted that no Jewish person should feel compelled to hide their identity, faith or symbols out of fear of harassment or exclusion, and called on the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council to conduct an immediate investigation and ensure the full application of hate crime and anti-discrimination legislation.
