Cemetery, El Jadida, Morocco

El Jadida (Mazagan) 

Portugal conquered Mazagan in 1562 as a part of its wider colonial ambitions in coastal Morocco, though Portuguese presence there dates back to the late fifteenth century. Spanish Jews expelled from Spain and Spanish controlled territories first settled in Portuguese-controlled El Jadida/Mazagan in the early half of the 16th century.[1] Although Jews were persecuted throughout mainland Portugal, Mazagan was able to remain a haven for Iberian Jews. In the later half of the 1500s, antisemitic persecution by the Portuguese Crown reached the port town. Nevertheless, Mazagan’s strategic location saved some of the newly formed Jewish community. While Jews were not allowed to technically reside there for any longer than their business required, a secret community was nevertheless formed by a group of crypto-Jews from Portugal. [2] As a port town, the importance of trade superseded the expulsion decree (1556) enacted by João III The “Pious,” King of Portugal. [3] The expulsion was quickly reversed by the end of the 16th century. This also allowed Jews to travel though into Morocco and further into Europe. “Throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, Jewish traders used Mazagan as a port of exit for their journeys to western Europe.”[4] Portuguese rule over Morocco ended in 1769, dissolving restrictions on Mazagan’s Jews. This resulted in a flourishing Jewish population. Uniquely, the Jewish community in Mazagan did not have a separate Jewish quarter, or mellah. [5] The city was renamed “El Jadida” in 1820, nearly half a century after Portuguese rule ended there.