Jews had lived in the Iberian peninsula since the Dark Ages, experiencing a Golden Age under Arab rule. Following the Reconquista and increasing persecution, they were expelled from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497. Their descendants, known as the Sephardim, settled mainly in North Africa and South-East Europe. Jews were only formally readmitted to the peninsula in the late 19th century. The modern Jewish Iberian population is based on post-war immigration and numbers around 14,000. Here is a list of prominent Iberian Jews arranged by country of origin.

Gibraltar

• Don Pacifico, businessman

Portugal

Pre-expulsion

• Isaac Abravanel, Jewish statesman and philosopher
• Yosef Karo, rabbi, halakhist (possibly born in Spain)
• Amato Lusitano , doctor
• Garcia de Orta , doctor
• Luis de Torres, explorer

Post-expulsion

• Uriel Acosta, philosopher
• Menasseh ben Israel , Jewish leader
• Pedro Nunes, mathematician (converso)
• Jorge Sampaio, president (Moroccan Jewish grandmother)
• Baruch Spinoza, philosopher (Portuguese parents)

Spain

Pre-expulsion

• Ezmel de Ablitas, banker and government official
• Joseph Albo, rabbi
• Benjamin of Tudela, explorer
• Hasdai Crescas, philosopher, halakhist
• Abraham ibn Daud, philosopher, scholar
• Abraham ibn Ezra, grammarian, scholar
• Solomon ibn Gabirol, philosopher, poet
• Jacob Gaón, tax collector
• Yehuda Halevi, philosopher, poet
• Asher ben Jehiel, rabbi, Talmudist
• Yosef Karo, rabbi, halakhist
• David Kimhi , linguist
• Dunash ben Labrat, poet, grammarian
• Moses de Leon, composer of the Zhoar
• Maimónides, philosopher
• Nahmanides, scholar, rabbi
• Bahya ibn Paquda, rabbi
• Hasdai ibn Shaprut, physician, diplomat

Post-expulsion

• Isaac Carasso , founder of Danone
• Miguel de Cervantes, writer (converso mother?)
• Diego Lainez, Jesuit leader (father of 'Jewish descent')
• Fernando de Rojas , writer (converso)
• Cecilia Roth , actress
• Milton Wolff , head of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

See also

• List of Jews
• List of Portuguese
• List of Spaniards