Young woman reports antisemitic abuse on Madrid Metro: "Jewish bitch, murderer, genocidal"
A young woman was insulted with antisemitic slurs on Line 1 of the Metro on 16 May. The aggressor has already been identified by police following the complaint.
Antisemitic abuse on Line 1: aggressor identified
A young woman fell victim to antisemitic insults on Saturday 16 May while travelling on Line 1 of Madrid's Metro, near Iglesia station, according to El Mundo. A man travelling opposite her, wearing a Rayo Vallecano tracksuit, noticed a Jewish badge that the young woman was wearing around her neck and began to harangue her loudly.
"Jewish bitch", "fucking Israel", "murderer", "genocidal": the insults continued for several stops. The aggressor first claimed that the young woman should be "ashamed to wear that" before unleashing the barrage of epithets. The rest of the passengers in the crowded carriage observed the scene in silence without intervening.
The victim recorded a video to document the incident and, upon reaching her destination, went directly to the police station to file a complaint. Thanks to the footage provided, police have identified the aggressor.
"It was a very violent situation. The silence from the other people made her feel even more defenceless," a friend of the young woman told El Mundo, who said that the victim "to this day is very shocked" and "feared for her safety".
A documented pattern with figures
Esteban Ibarra, president of the Movement against Intolerance, places the incident in a broader context that his organisation has been recording for some time. "It would not have happened the other way around. If she had been carrying a Palestinian flag, nobody would have bothered her. People have the right to wear the Star of David if they wish to," Ibarra said.
Of the 105 complaints for hate crimes that the Movement against Intolerance submitted in 2026 to the Public Prosecutor's Office, 46 are antisemitic in nature, 43.8% of the total. Ibarra also points to data from the Ministry of the Interior: in 2024, when most hate crimes fell by around 15%, antisemitic crimes rose by 61%. "And in 2025 that upward trend continues," he warns.
The association leader emphasises that violence "is not always verbal" and recalls the throwing of a Molotov cocktail against a kosher restaurant in Madrid approximately a year ago. The Movement against Intolerance has also reported on two occasions the existence of a map drawn up by a clandestine group in which Jewish businesses were marked with the aim of boycotting them.
"This reflects a climate of antisemitic intolerance that has many those responsible. One thing is political criticism of a government and another is the stigmatisation of an entire people. When you say 'Israel is genocidal' you are pointing from the bus driver, to the fisherman or the migrant who lives in Spain to their deputies. That was not done even with Nazi Germany. Nobody ever said Germany is genocidal," Ibarra concluded.
Source: El Mundo