Sagunto to host Sephardic September, 12-27, with guided tours and family game
Sagunto's Tourism Department will run the seventh edition of Sephardic September from 12 to 27 September, offering guided tours of the Jewish Quarter and Grau Vell, plus a family treasure hunt.
Sagunto's Tourism Department has confirmed the calendar for the seventh edition of Sephardic September, which starts on 12 September and runs until 27 September. The program marks the European Day of Jewish Culture, celebrated every year on 6 September, and includes guided tours, a photo contest, and a free digital game for the whole family.
The calendar is split into three groups of visits. The first covers the Jewish Quarter (Judería) at night, with dates on 12, 18, 19 and 25 September at 10:30 pm. The second heads to the Grau Vell fort (a historic coastal site) on 12, 19 and 26 September at 6 pm, plus an extra session on 20 September at noon. The third, on Sunday 27 September, is a family treasure hunt through the streets of the Jewish Quarter starting at 11 am. Anyone who wants to join any of these three routes must book a place in advance: simply show a stamped purchase receipt at one of the municipal Tourist Offices — in Sagunto, at Plaza Cronista Chabret, or in Puerto de Sagunto, at Avenida Mediterráneo 67 — or send it by email to the address listed for each area.
As in previous editions, shoppers at businesses carrying the SICTED quality label (a Spanish tourism-quality certification) can exchange their receipt for free tour tickets: spending €30 between 1 and 25 September earns two tickets — to choose from the night tour, the Grau Vell visit, or the 27 September treasure hunt — while spending €60 or more raises that to four tickets. Through this scheme, the City Council aims both to support local shops and to spark interest in Sephardic heritage among people who might not otherwise attend this kind of cultural activity.
Spain's Network of Jewish Quarters (Red de Juderías) is also running a photo contest with a heart-shaped banner set up in the courtyard of Casa dels Berenguer (a historic building in Sagunto) throughout September. Visitors can take a photo there and share it on social media, tagging the association to win prizes. All month, a free digital game called The Rabbi's Secret is also available with no sign-up required — a mobile game that mixes fun and learning about Sagunto's Jewish past. Anyone who finishes the game and rates the experience can collect a promotional gift pack at Casa dels Berenguer while stocks last.
This year's theme is Love, used to explore how the bond with the land, roots and memory has survived for centuries despite the break caused by the expulsion. That expulsion ended the medieval period of Sagunto's Jewish community: in 1492, when the Jewish population made up nearly a third of the city's residents, hundreds of families left Sagunto through its port bound for Naples and Pisa, taking with them customs and memories that this month's guided tours aim to bring back to life.
These activities are part of Sagunto's membership in Spain's Network of Jewish Quarters, Caminos de Sefarad, a non-profit public association founded in 1995 by eight municipalities that today brings together 27 towns and cities committed to preserving Sephardic Jewish heritage. Sagunto joined the network in 2019, which explains why events like Sephardic September have become a fixed part of the city's yearly tourism calendar.
Sephardic September joins a wider list of dates that keep Sagunto's dual tourist identity alive all year round: the historic old town, built around the Roman Theatre and the castle, and the seafront of Puerto de Sagunto. The Jewish Quarter and Grau Vell belong to that first, heritage-focused side of the city, alongside offerings such as the urban-art route or the Roman Theatre's own program, and they tend to reappear regularly on the municipal cultural calendar throughout the year.
For the City Council, the program serves two goals: keeping alive the memory of a community that shaped the historic old town for centuries, and boosting tourism outside the busy summer beach season by drawing visitors to Sagunto's old town at a quieter time of year. The mix of low-cost guided tours, a social-media contest and a free digital game aims to reach both people who already know the Jewish Quarter and newcomers discovering this heritage for the first time.
Full details on schedules, bookings and conditions are available on the Sagunto Turismo website. According to Sagunto City Council, with additional background from Spain's Network of Jewish Quarters and Wikipedia on the network and the European Day of Jewish Culture.