The town of El Burgo, in the province of Malaga, has issued a strong response to accusations of antisemitism made by Israel. These arose from the burning of an effigy representing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the traditional Burning of Judas festival. This incident led Israel to summon the Spanish chargé d'affaires for a diplomatic reprimand.

María Dolores Narváez, mayor of El Burgo and a member of the PSOE, explained that this custom dates back to the beginning of the last century. It involves burning effigies that symbolize evil and all the negative events of the year, with the hope that good will emerge from it. The mayor emphasized that neither the Town Council nor the volunteers who create the effigy assign it a specific name.

The mayor added that the festival is part of the Easter Sunday celebrations and that they do not promote hatred or violence. She stressed that the effigy symbolizes “all the bad things that have happened during the year so that good may resurface, hoping it brings us peace,” and that this year the slogan “No to war” was added, referring to current conflicts. Personally, Narváez declared herself “against war and genocide.”

The controversy arose after the burning of a seven-meter-tall effigy, filled with fourteen kilograms of gunpowder, on April 5. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement published on the social network X, accused Spain of systematic incitement to “atrocious antisemitic hatred,” linking it to the stance of Pedro Sánchez's Government. The note also criticized the Spanish executive's “silence” regarding the video of the burning.

It is worth noting that in 2025, the figure burned in El Burgo was that of former US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu himself accused Spain of waging a “diplomatic war” against Israel, citing Spanish criticism of the offensive in Gaza and its opposition to the war with Iran and attacks on Lebanon. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected the accusations of antisemitism.