Serious concerns about the “destruction and desecration” of ancestral Jewish cemeteries in Spain by construction and archaeological research (HERE) prompted a New York City congressman to arrange for representatives of three Jewish organizations to meet with Spain’s ambassador to America at his Washington, D.C., office.

The meeting of the Spanish ambassador, Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza, with the Jewish leaders took place July 26 in the offices of Rep. Edolphus Towns, a Democrat of Brooklyn. At issue are the disturbances of Jewish graves during the building a residential complex in Catalonia and a road in Andalusia, and the return of more than 500 skeletons that archaeologists have excavated from Jewish graves in Barcelona, some more than 50 years ago, that are currently in storage.

“It is painful to know that these holy remains are dragged out of their resting place,” a representative of an Orthodox umbrella organization, the Central Rabbinical Congress of America and Canada who attended the meeting, Rabbi David Niederman, said.

Mr. Towns said that he felt the meeting was productive. “The ambassador understood how important this was, and not only to the Jewish community,” he said.

Extended article on NY Sun Website.