Identity symbols and institutional recognition [editar]

In recent decades there has been institutional recognition through the express reference to the Roma in the Statutes of Autonomy in Spain, with the creation of the State Council of the Roma People (2005) and several regional councils and the Institute of Roma Culture (2007).

The Spanish Parliament, the Senate and the Government have officially recognised 8 April as Roma Day and the flag and anthem for use in institutional events.

Flag

The green and blue colours of the flag reflect the fields and the sky. The cartwheel symbolises the journey that began in India and freedom. The flag and the anthem were instituted at the first Roma World Congress, held on 8 April 1971.

Himno

Gelem, Gelem (I walked, I walked) is the title of the international Roma anthem composed by Jarko Jovanovic based on popular Eastern European music. The lyrics are inspired by the persecutions and the itinerant life:

I walked, I walked on long roads

I met happy Roma

O Roma, where do you come from,

With tents happy on the road?

O Roma, O Romani youths!

I once had a great family,

The Germans murdered them

Come with me, Roma from all the world

For the Roma, roads have opened

Now is the time, rise up Roma now,

We will rise high if we act

O Roma, O Romani youths!

Milestones of institutional recognition in Spain

1985. Non-legislative proposal on the creation of a National Roma Development Plan
1989. Launch of the Roma Development Programme
1999. The Congress of Deputies creates a ‘Subcommittee for the study of the problems of the Roma population’
2005. Parliamentary motion urging the Government to promote the culture, history, identity and language of the Roma
2005. Creation of the State Council of the Roma People
2006-2007. References to the Roma community in the new Statutes of Autonomy of Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, Castile and León.
2005-2011. Creation of Regional Councils of the Roma people (Catalonia, Basque Country, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha
2007. Creation of the Institute of Roma Culture attached to the Ministry of Culture
2007. Creation of the Council for the Promotion of Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination of Persons on the Basis of Racial or Ethnic Origi
2010. The ‘2nd European Summit on Actions and Policies in Favour of the Roma Population’ is held in Córdoba, organised within the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2010.
2012. Approval and implementation of the National Strategy for the Inclusion of the Roma in Spain 2012-2020

8 April. International Roma Day

On 8 April International Roma Day is celebrated all over the world. This date commemorates the World Romani Congress held in London in 1971 at which the Roma flag and anthem were instituted. In recent years, this date has been gaining great public notoriety, with different celebrations and acts of recognition by multiple national and international institutions.

The river ceremony is one of these celebrations in which flower petals are thrown into the rivers and candles are lit in memory of the ancestors.

See web