Barriers to reintegration for Los Gitanos (Gypsies) in La Coruña, Spain: politics, the media and the Spanish community

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to report on the barriers to reintegration for Gitano (Gypsy) communities in one northern Spanish city.Design/methodology/approach -The article is based on ethnographic research undertaken in Gitano communities throughout 2010.Findings -Over the last 30 years, the city has witnessed vast commercial and residential expansion, resulting in the spatial and social exclusion of Gitanos to the outskirts of the city. Here they have had to survive by reduced access to their livelihoods in city markets and increasingly through illicit drug markets and crime. It is only recently that there have been attempts to relocate these people back into the city. Yet the social reintegration efforts have only perpetuated the social exclusion of the Gitanos and there is significant community opposition to their relocation.Social implications -The council need to take more care in consulting Gitanos and seek to build the fragile relations they have with them before deciding on what ''best to do about them''.Originality/value -No ethnographic research has been undertaken in this city in the context of Gitanos.