Addressing antigypsyism on the 600th anniversary of the arrival of the Roma in Spain [editar]

This 21 March, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, marks the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. In Spain, the Government has declared 2025 as the Year of the Roma People, to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the arrival of Roma to the Iberian Peninsula.

In this context, Fundación Secretariado Gitano calls on institutions and society as a whole to take decisive steps to eradicate antigypsyism and the structural discrimination suffered by the Roma.

The problem of structural anti-Roma discrimination is not exclusive to Spain, but it is particularly urgent in Spain, given the large number of people affected (the Spanish Roma population is estimated at between 1 and 1.3 million people). This demographic weight and the importance of the Roma contribution to Spanish culture contrasts with the general lack of knowledge about Roma history and culture, despite the fact that the last state educational reform included in the curricula the recognition and dissemination of the history of the Roma in order to promote their knowledge and reduce stereotypes. It is essential to guarantee the implementation of this content in the educational programmes of schools at all levels and to ensure that it translates into a real change in the social perception of the Roma population.

It is therefore necessary to make progress in the recognition of the history of the Roma in our country. International efforts to draw attention to the Samudaripen or genocide during the Nazi persecution have not been accompanied in Spain by similar actions regarding the Great Round-Up of 1749 (the first systematic attempt to exterminate the Roma, which failed due to lack of support from the population) or the anti-Roma legislation and regulations that began in 1499 with the Pragmatic Law of the Catholic Monarchs and remained in force until 1978 with the approval of the Spanish Constitution. The official recognition of these episodes and their inclusion in the country's democratic memory are fundamental steps to begin to repair centuries of discrimination.

Despite the progress made in recent years, inequality gaps persist in key areas that prevent many Roma from accessing full citizenship. To mention just a few figures, the unemployment rate is three times higher than that of the general population; 86% of Roma live in poverty; the child poverty rate is 89%; the school failure rate is 62.8% (compared to 4% for the general population); and 77% of the population living in slums or substandard housing is Roma. These data demonstrate the existence of a situation of structural discrimination that should be urgently addressed.

According to the latest Special Eurobarometer: Discrimination in the European Union, discrimination against Roma is the most widespread in Spain and in Europe, compared to other minorities and discriminated groups (perceived as such by 70% of the population in Spain and 60% of the population in the EU, respectively). In this context, moreover, incidents of discrimination and antigypsyism occur regularly. In fact, at Fundación Secretariado Gitano we have documented and attended to more than 4 600 cases of discrimination and antigypsyism in the last 20 years. This figure is only the tip of the iceberg of a very widespread situation in Spain: 30.3% of Roma claim to have suffered some kind of discrimination in the last 12 months, according to the latest study Perception of discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin by potential victims. It is essential to reinforce reporting and protection mechanisms so that these situations do not go unpunished and reparation for victims is guaranteed.

At the same time as discrimination persists, public opinion and institutions are showing a determined desire to move towards the full inclusion of Roma. King Felipe VI put words to widely shared sentiments with his speech on the Spanish Exterior Radio on 4 March, joining, as Honorary Patron, the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of the arrival of the Roma in Spain. The Head of State drew attention to this historical discrimination and encouraged the fight against this scourge to continue. This commitment needs to be translated into concrete actions at all institutional levels.

21 March, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, is an opportunity to draw attention once again to the anomaly that, three years after the adoption of the Comprehensive Law for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, the Independent Authority responsible for ensuring that the protection of victims does not remain a dead letter. Legislative achievements are of little use if they do not translate into effective measures to ensure that those who, like Roma, suffer discrimination in their daily lives, obtain effective redress.