09/01/2025
FSG
On the occasion of the celebration on 12 January of the 600th anniversary of the documented presence of the Roma in the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved on 7 January an institutional declaration declaring 2025 as the Year of the Roma in Spain.
On 12 January 1425, Alfonso V, King of Aragon, granted Juan, Count of Egypt Minor, a safe-conduct authorising him to travel freely on his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Since then, Roma have been present on the Iberian Peninsula, contributing their rich artistic expression, their lexicon, art, gastronomy, their crafts... It is therefore impossible to imagine Spanish culture without the Roma component being part of it. The configuration of the Spanish nation and identity over the centuries has also been built unequivocally with the elements contributed by the Roma.
600 years of shared history
Despite the fact that six centuries have passed and the Roma form an essential part of the cultural melting pot that makes up Spanish society, the profound ignorance of the Roma, of our diversity, our identity, our shared history and culture, is at the root of anti-Roma rejection and discrimination. The knowledge of our people and our culture is still based on generalisations, negative stereotypes and prejudices, largely due to the fact that the Roma history and culture are still absent from the educational curriculum and from the schools.
Roma, after centuries of persecution, invisibility and attempts at assimilation, deserve to have our role in the construction of this country recognised and our history and culture valued. “It is time to do justice to the Roma and restore their dignity. It is time to place us on the same symbolic and institutional level as the other communities, peoples and nationalities that today make up the diversity and plurality of Spain”, in the words of Sara Giménez, director general of the FSG.
With the approval of the Constitution and the establishment of democracy in Spain in 1978, the Roma have gradually achieved greater equality and improved their living conditions. However, there are still many challenges ahead: Roma are poorer, we have a much lower level of education than the average which conditions our future, we carry the weight of a negative social image and suffer more discrimination, especially women, and we are systematically excluded from the public sphere and spaces of power.
Recognition, Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment
On the occasion of this 600th anniversary, Fundación Secretariado Gitano calls for a commitment from the highest institutions and the powers of the Spanish State to advance in equality and recognition of the Roma. “We aim to be present in our Constitution when the time comes to update it. We want a firm guarantee of our individual rights, but we also demand the recognition of our collective rights as a minority, rights that involve preserving and promoting our cultural heritage: our history and culture, our symbols of identity”, according to Giménez.
At this moment of celebration, we ask the highest state institutions for a public commitment to institutional recognition of the Roma, of our identity, history and culture, of the contributions we have made as part of the citizenry over the last 600 years, and we hope that this will translate into the celebration of a great act of state. “We Roma deserve recognition of the history of rejection, persecution, inequality and discrimination that has marked these 600 years of shared history.”
Furthermore, we demand a decisive response to the poverty and structural inequality that impede the social progress of the Roma. We Roma must not resign ourselves to accept a perpetual position at the lowest level of society, and for this we need more ambitious and sustained investments and public policies that allow us to access decent employment, combat school failure and segregation, and eradicate segregated settlements.
We call on the public authorities to make a greater commitment against antigypsyism, to provide firm institutional and legal responses to cases of discrimination and hate speech, and to provide the necessary support for victims to come forward and denounce and find redress for their dignity.
We call on the educational authorities, schools, publishers and members of the educational community to make a firm commitment to the effective incorporation of Roma history and culture into the educational curriculum. “Our society needs to know the history of rejection, persecution and resistance of the Roma, as well as our contribution to the construction of the society in which we live”, in the words of Sara Giménez.
FSG also urges political parties to effectively and systematically incorporate Roma in public office and on their electoral lists, so that political and institutional representation reflects the diversity of our society. The media play a key role, so we also ask them to avoid biased and stereotypical treatment of Roma-related content, and to avoid using the mention of Roma ethnicity to perpetuate prejudices. We invite cultural institutions and universities to incorporate the history, culture and language of the Roma into their cultural offerings, and to promote the study and research of an unwritten history.
This 600th anniversary should be an opportunity to get to know the Roma. “We want to invite society as a whole to get to know our history and culture, the values and traditions on which our identity is based, and to celebrate together these 600 years of shared history”, concludes Sara Giménez.
Among the events scheduled to be held throughout the year, we highlight those that will take place in the first four months of the year:
