Xueta

The Xuetes (Catalan pronunciation: [ʃuˈətə]; singular Xueta, also known as Xuetons and spelled as Chuetas) are a social group on the Spanish island of Mallorca, in the Mediterranean Sea, who are descendants of Mallorcan Jews who were either Conversos (forcible converts to Christianity) or crypto-Jews, forced to keep their religion hidden. They practiced strict endogamy by marrying only within their own group. Many of their descendants observe a syncretist form of Christian worship known as Xueta Christianity.

The Xuetes were stigmatized until the first half of the 20th century. In the latter part of the century, the spread of freedom of religion and laïcité reduced both the social pressure and community ties. An estimated 18,000 people in the island carry Xueta surnames in the 21st century, but only a few people (even if with Xueta surnames) are aware of the complex history of this group.

Etymology

The Balearic word xueta derives, according to some experts, from juetó, diminutive of jueu ("Jew") which give xuetó, a term that also still survives. Other authors consider that it may derive from the word xulla (pronounced xuia or xua, which means a type of salted bacon and, by extension, pork) and, according to popular belief, refers to Xuetes who were seen eating pork to show that they did not practice Judaism. But this etymology has also been linked with the tendency, present in various cultures, of using offensive names related to pork to designate Jews and Jewish converts (see, for example Marrano). A third possibility links both putative etymologies; the word xuia may have provoked the substitution of the j of juetó by the x of xuetó, and xueta could have been imposed over xuetó by the greater phonetic resemblance with xuia.