The statue of Maimonides, which stands in the heart of the Jewish quarter in the city where he was born – Cordoba, Spain, was vandalized during the Sabbath and a swastika was spray-painted on it. The Jewish community was outraged by this and stated that “this is not just an attack on a monument – but an attack on Jewish history, memory and identity. Spain must ensure that those responsible are actually identified and brought to justice.”
Tras los sucesos de #Ceuta #Cordoba #Andalucia Vandalizan la estatua de Maimónides con una pintada nazi
La estatua de Maimónides, esta situada en la plaza de Tiberíades#DelitoOdio #Supremacismo #Racismo #Xenofobia #Islamofobia pic.twitter.com/jVIcjB2tFq— Sare Antifaxista (@Antifaxismoa) August 1, 2026
According to reports, Spanish authorities have opened an investigation, but the suspects have not yet been identified. The Jewish community in Barcelona also condemned the incident and published a scathing post on the X network: “Maimonides is part of the intellectual heritage of all humanity. Attacking his statue with a Nazi symbol is an attack on our shared history, against the Golden Age, against our culture and against the values of knowledge, freedom and coexistence that his legacy represents. Hatred will never overcome culture.”
La Gran Sinagoga de Barcelona lleva con orgullo el nombre de “Maimónides”, en homenaje a uno de los mayores pensadores sefaradís de la historia, nacido en Córdoba.
Maimónides pertenece al patrimonio intelectual de toda la humanidad.
Atacar su estatua con un símbolo nazi es un… pic.twitter.com/IepJ4EUjam
— Comunitat Jueva/Judía/Jewish de Barcelona (@BarcelonaJudia) August 1, 2026
Acting Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bustos also condemned the incident, saying it was a violation of the city’s heritage: “The severity of the message of hatred it represents is extreme.” Antonio Hurtado, a local councilor in Cordoba, called for the statue to be cleaned immediately, clarifying: “The vandalism in the historic district harms not only people but also our rich heritage.”
The city authorities covered the statue with a sign until the cleaning work was completed, and a dedicated team was invited to handle the removal of the swastika. As mentioned, Maimonides, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, was born in Cordoba and was one of the greatest jurists, philosophers, and physicians in Jewish history and the Golden Age of Spain. He worked mainly in Egypt as the personal physician of the Sultan, and led the Jewish communities of his generation.