COJECO Educational Trip to Jewish Spain with Jacob Shoshan

Madrid, Castile, Andalusia, and Gibraltar
November 4 – 11, 2024

Join us for COJECO Educational Jewish Travel Experience. This year’s Destination is Southern Spain.

Jewish history in Spain is filled with contradictions. There is tragedy here, but there are also traces of former glory during the 1,000 years before the Inquisition. There were large Jewish communities that prospered for long periods. For centuries, Spain was the Center of the Jewish World – a Muslim land where Jews were at the pinnacle of commerce, finance, the arts and diplomacy. We will delve into the past and explore the nascent Jewish communities of today. Hear their struggles and their successes. This is a unique tour with an emphasis on the fate of the Crypto Jews in Spain and the Diaspora. A Jewish heritage destination with an amazing story told by our incredible tour guide Jacob Shoshan!

Born in Jerusalem, Jacob Shoshan is a licensed tour guide in Israel as well as a teacher and lecturer at The Tour Guide College in Israel.
He is also a Senior Tour Director and Lecturer for the Geographical Society in Israel.
Shoshan has visited 98 countries and led tours in 65 countries.

This Experience is open to COJECO Supporters of $500 or more.
Cost: $3,550- double room occupancy; $4,192- single room occupancy.
This cost includes a $500 tax-deductible donation to COJECO.

Included: Hotels (7 nights with American buffet breakfast daily); Dinner in Madrid, Dinner at Parador de Almagro, Shabbat Dinner at Seville, and Dinner at Flamenco Show Granada; Comfortable tour bus with air conditioner; All tours, sites and museums entrance fees.

Not Included: Airfare and tips

Cancellation policy:
90% refund until August 1, 2024; 70% refund until September 1, 2024; 50% refund until October 1, 2024; no refund starting October 1, 2024.

ITINERARY

Day 1 – Monday, November 4  

Our program starts in Madrid, Spain’s vibrant capital. We will meet the participants at 10am at the Madrid Airport and proceed to our Madrid destinations.
Visit the Royal Palace and the elegantly colonnaded Plaza Mayor.

Dinner and Overnight 1:  Hotel Riu Plaza España, Madrid

Day 2 – Tuesday, November 5

Tour Madrid main sites – see the monument to Miguel de Cervantes at the Plaza de España and travel along the Gran Via to Plaza de Cibeles and Plaza de Neptuno.  Visit the Prado Museum and continue – by way of Plaza de Colon – to the Beth Yaacov Synagogue. 

Overnight 2:  Hotel Riu Plaza España

Day 3 – Wednesday, November 6

Travel to Toledo, once royal capital of Spain and heart of Jewish learning and literature. Enjoy a panoramic view of the city from the surrounding hills.  Enter the Old Town and view the Grand Toledo Cathedral.  See El Greco’s house (once a wealthy Jewish home).  See El Greco’s masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, at the Church of Santo Tomé. Visit El Transito Synagogue and its Museum of Sephardic Culture. Visit the Synagogue of Santa Maria La Blanca. Continue into the open plains of La Mancha, made famous by Cervantes, and stop at the Venta Del Quixote at the picturesque town of Puerto Lapice.  Arrive at your Parador Hotel in Almagro, painstakingly restored to its 1596 grandeur.  This afternoon explore Corral De Las Comedias, Spain’s oldest theatre.  Walk by small workshops where the city’s delicate lace is crafted.

Dinner and Overnight 3:  Parador de Almagro

Day 4 – Thursday, November 7

Drive from Almagro to the Andalusian city of Granada, once “Granada of The Jews”. This was the site of Samuel Ha-Nagid’s Talmudic Academy which has attracted students from the Mediterranean region, Baghdad, and Jerusalem. Enjoy the afternoon visit to the intricately ornamented fortress and palace of Alhambra and its Generalife Gardens.  It was here in 1492 that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella signed the infamous decree expelling the Jews from Spain.  Dinner at Flamenco Show in Granada.

Overnight 4:  Hotel Barceló Granada Congres, Granada

Day 5 – Friday, November 8

Drive from Granada along the White Villages hamlets and castles to Cordoba, birthplace of Moses Maimonides.  Visit the Medieval Almodovar Gate.  Enter the La Mesquita – the 8th Century Mosque-turned-Cathedral.  Proceed to the former Jewish Quarter – La Juderia – to visit the Synagogue and the Casa Sefardi.  See the Maimonides statue in the Plaza de Tiberias.  Continue to Seville. Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat Dinner at Seville!

Overnight 5: Hotel Sevilla Macia Kubb, Seville

Day 6 – Saturday, November 9

Travel from Seville to Ronda.  See the oldest Bull Fight Ring in Spain – La Plaza de Toros. View the unusual bridge connecting 2 towns on either side of the deep gorge.  Drive along the Mediterranean coastline to the British Colony of Gibraltar.  See the Rock of Gibraltar’ legendary Barbary Apes and visit the ancient Jewish Cemetery.  Enter St. Michael Cave and see the Old Moorish Castle.  Visit the Nefusot Yehuda “Flamenco” Synagogue.  Return to Seville. 

Overnight 6:  Hotel Sevilla Macia Kubb, Seville

Day 7 – Sunday, November 10 

Full day tour of Seville.  Explore the Alcazar – a Moorish Palace and royal residence, and the Barrio de Santa Cruz, once the thriving Jewish Quarter, preserved with great care.  Visit the Cathedral (Spain’s Largest) with its Giralda Tower.  Visit the Plaza Espana and the Plaza the Las Americas.

Overnight 7:  Hotel Sevilla Macia Kubb, Seville

Day 8 –Monday, November 11

Breakfast & Transfer to Seville airport for Flight to Madrid.  Official programming will end at 11am.
Transportation from the hotel in Seville to the Seville Airport is included. 
The flight from Seville to Madrid is NOT included.
Continue to the USA – or let us assist you in making your own plans to visit additional sites in Spain.