199 Salam Shalom Barcelona, is Muslim-Jewish Dialogue Possible? Zouhair El-Hairan and Rosa Martinez-Cuadros Abstract In March 2017 Salam Shalom Barcelona started as an initiative aimed at enhancing interreligious relations and dialogue between Jews and Muslims living in the city. This initiative followed the steps of a former one that was established in Germany in 2013 called Salam Shalom. Despite Salam Shalom Barcelona’s short history, the promoted activities have shown that it can be a successful project with a high future potential. However, establishing interre- ligious dialogue is not an easy endeavor. It has to take into account different historical, political and social issues that impact the religious groups and com- munities. Therefore, this chapter aims to explain the Salam Shalom Barcelona initiative within the historical and social context of Spain, in order to enhance our understanding of its complexities and challenges. On the one hand, it pre- sents a short introduction of the historiographical discussion regarding inter- religious relations during the medieval period in Spain, considered by many historians to be exceptional and to serve as a model of culture of tolerance and convivencia. On the other, the chapter describes the main characteristics of the Jewish and Muslim communities in Barcelona. Broadly speaking, the chapter © Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2019 E. Aslan and M. Rausch (eds.), Jewish-Muslim Relations, Wiener Beiträge zur Islamforschung, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26275-4_12 Z. El-Hairan () Barcelona, Spain E-Mail: zouhair.elhairan@upf.edu R. Martinez-Cuadros Bellaterra, Spain E-Mail: rosa.martinez.cuadros@uab.cat