Barcelona sauna apologizes after Jewish women denied entry to private event

Sauna Thermas in Barcelona moved quickly into damage control after two Jewish American women living in the city were denied entry to a private LGBTQ event on May 29, after staff noticed their Star of David necklaces and questioned them about whether they were Zionists. The confrontation, filmed and circulated widely online, turned a one-night dispute at Carrer de la Diputació 46 in the Eixample district into a far bigger test of how Barcelona’s wellness venues handle visible religious identity.

By June 1, Sauna Thermas said it deeply regretted what happened, condemned discrimination in any form and said it would no longer host the organizers behind the booking. The venue also said it completely dissociated itself from the organizers’ actions and comments, later identified as Bolleras al Vapor, and argued that political disagreements should never be used to justify exclusion in a recreational setting. That distinction matters in a market where saunas, spas and private fitness events increasingly sell themselves not just as services, but as curated social spaces with a clear promise of safety.

The episode quickly moved beyond reputation management. Catalan police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, opened a hate-crime investigation after the women filed a complaint. ACOM, the Spanish-Jewish advocacy group, said it had begun criminal, administrative and civil proceedings, citing Spain’s Law 15/2022 on equal treatment and non-discrimination, Penal Code article 510 and constitutional protections for equality and religious freedom. The U.S. embassy also denounced the incident publicly, adding diplomatic pressure to a case that had already drawn anger from Jewish groups in Spain and abroad.

The incident now stands as a hard question for Barcelona’s wellness scene: when a venue books a private event, who is responsible for making sure the door stays open to people with visible religious symbols, even when politics are part of the room? Sauna Thermas’ apology suggests the answer can no longer be left to improvisation. For operators trying to build premium, experience-led businesses, anti-discrimination policy and staff training are no longer back-office concerns. They are part of the product, and part of whether people believe a sauna, gym or spa will welcome them on equal terms.