{"id":4872,"date":"2020-05-20T19:56:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T17:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plataformakhetane.org\/?p=4872"},"modified":"2020-05-21T10:31:35","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T08:31:35","slug":"el-antigitanismo-en-la-espana-del-coronavirus-cronica-de-la-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plataformakhetane.org\/index.php\/2020\/05\/20\/el-antigitanismo-en-la-espana-del-coronavirus-cronica-de-la-bbc\/","title":{"rendered":"El antigitanismo en la Espa\u00f1a del coronavirus, cr\u00f3nica de la BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

La cadena brit\u00e1nica, a traves de su canal \u00abRadio 4\u00bb emite una cr\u00f3nica sobre el impacto del racismo en Espa\u00f1a, que incluye declaraciones de representantes de Khetane<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Web de BBC Sounds – Radio 4<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Reproducimos a continuaci\u00f3n la cr\u00f3nica elaborada por el corresponsal de la BBC en Espa\u00f1a, Guy Hedgecoe, transcrita en lengua inglesa y m\u00e1s abajo con su traducci\u00f3n al castellano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Our Own Correspondent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Spain has been one of the countries in Europe which has been hardest hit by coronavirus. It has also had one of the toughest lockdowns in the world as it has tried to keep the virus under control. As the daily deaths and infections start to ease, the country is now starting to lift many of the restrictions which have been in place since mid-March. However, this crisis has had unwelcome consequences for the country\u2019s Roma community, who are estimated to number between three quarters of a million and 1.5 million. Guy Hedgecoe reports. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late March, not long after Spain\u2019s coronavirus lockdown had begun, a Roma family in the town of Karrantza in the northern Basque region complained to police that they were being threatened by some of their neighbours. Then an audio recording started to circulate among locals, from phone to phone, of somebody calling for protests against the Gypsy community and even calling for them to be attacked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It\u2019s not clear who was behind the audio and threats, but they were apparently driven by the notion that Roma Gypsies were responsible for the spread of coronavirus in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not an isolated case. Since Covid-19 took hold in Spain, the Roma community has repeatedly been blamed for its spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the town of Santo\u00f1a, in the northern region of Cantabria, the Socialist mayor, Sergio Abascal, told local media that five out of the six locals who at that time had died from Covid-19 had been Roma. He added that members of the Gypsy community had probably brought the virus back to the town after attending a funeral or party of some kind. Coronavirus, he said, was particularly prevalent among the Roma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His comments triggered outrage in some quarters. But Mr Abascal shrugged off the criticism: \u201cI talked about Gypsies the way I might have been talking about fishermen,\u201d was how he put it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santo\u00f1a has been more affected than most parts of Cantabria. Unusually, 21 families there, most of them of Roma origin, were put in quarantine by the local authorities, due to their supposed links to the deceased. Nonetheless, the prevalence of the virus within the Roma community there remains anecdotal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the idea that Gypsies are to blame has taken on a more sinister dimension on social media. One post on twitter claimed to offer support to the mayor of Santo\u00f1a, with a photograph of some canisters of poison gas.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we took every single one of these conspiracy theories to the courts then the justice system would collapse,\u201d was how I\u00f1aki Vazquez, the director of Khetane, a Roma rights organisation, put it to me. He says instances of racism against his community have suddenly soared in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The positive side of Spain\u2019s efforts to control coronavirus has been well documented: the extraordinary efforts of healthcare workers and the emotional support they receive from grateful Spaniards, who, from self-confinement, come out onto their balconies every evening to applaud and cheer. And there\u2019s also the creativity and humour which has made one of the world\u2019s strictest lockdowns rather more bearable.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there has also been an uglier side to the coronavirus experience here. There are the people who shout abuse from their balconies at those who they believe, correctly or not, are flouting the lockdown. The political arena, meanwhile, has been even more poisonous than usual, with the government and opposition almost permanently at odds over how to tackle this crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And some have been desperately seeking scapegoats. As coronavirus began to spread in Spain, there were cases of Asians being verbally abused due to the perception that they were to blame for the pandemic \u2013 a phenomenon which has been seen in other countries as well. The stigmatising of Spain\u2019s Gypsies, without any hard evidence that the virus is more prevalent among them, has been yet another sub-plot to this crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as if the Gypsy community is to blame until we can prove the opposite,\u201d says Ricardo Hernandez, the head of a Roma association in the north of the country. He points out that many extended Gypsy families live together in relatively small flats, because they tend to be poorer than the average Spanish family. But, he insists, the Roma have respected the lockdown as much as anyone.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worry among Gypsy leaders is that this healthcare emergency will further marginalise their community. Having arrived in the Iberian peninsula in the Middle Ages after migrating west from southeast Asia, the Roma are no strangers to living outside mainstream society or to discrimination. Even today, Gypsies have a limited presence in institutions and only a handful have ever become members of the Spanish parliament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are also likely to be among the hardest hard hit by the economic impact of coronavirus. Many of Spain\u2019s Roma work as vendors, selling food and other goods in outdoor markets. For the last two months such businesses have been shut down and the country\u2019s lockdown is not expected to be fully lifted until at least the end of June. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he appraises the situation for the Gypsy community, I\u00f1aki Vazquez cannot hide his mixed feelings. \u201cThis crisis is bringing out the best in our society,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s also bringing out the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n