GYPSY CULTURE

It is amazing that something can be extremely common in one culture and entirely new,
peculiar and interesting in another one. A good evidence of this kind of cultural
differences is the case of gypsies. For any Spanish person, they are something rather
conventional. However, for some American friends who came last Christmas to León
they were something worth-seeing, like a monument, something totally fresh, atypical
and amusing. Gypsies were so uncommon for them that they found almost unbeliavable
the fact that we can spot them easily. I am going to explain you their specific hallmarks,
as I did with my American friends some months ago.

Let us begin by saying where are they from. Their ancestors were from Romania and, as
it would happen with any other country, its inhabitants have some distinctive marks. As
one can come across, for example, an English person and identify them because of their
blue eyes and blond hair, they are also recognisable because of some body features. In
this case they have really dark hair and skin. Most of the times they have dark eyes as
well, and when one has green eyes they are exotic. Blue eyes are almost non-existing in
this social group. Another important detail for detecting them is the way they are
dressed. We can also distinguish them paying attention to the jewellery and accesories
they wear. If we talk about their clothes many of them tend to be very old, cheap, old-
fashioned and sometimes dirty. Moreover female gypsies’ hair is always truly long and
generally tied back with an extraordinarily big pin. They always wear gold and quite
ostentatious jewellery. Once I saw two gypsies weighing two rings in order to decide
which one to buy. Of course they bought the one that weighed the most.

When talking about the jobs they carry out, the first idea that comes to my mind is the
celebration of fun fairs. They use to be propietaries of a fairground attraction or a stall
of food. Another of their typical occupations is to have a stall of clothes, shoes or
accesories in a weekly market of a relatively big city. In some cities they do jobs with
bad reputation, dodgy business. Their residences are of various kinds depending on the
job they carry out. In the case of the first ones, they usually live in caravans because
they are continually moving from one city to another depending on in which one the
local party is being celebrated. If we talk about the second ones they can live in
caravans as well but sometimes, if the cities where the markets are celebrated are
relatively close, they live in a hired flat. However this is not their typical way of life.
Finally if we analyse the ones that carry out the dodgy business they usually live in a
flat, as these business provide them with a lot of money. It has to be pointed out that
none of these business are completely legal. Sometimes the clothes they sell are stolen
previously from non-gypsy people. It is worth mentioning that, as they work in bad
business or in fun fairs and local markets, they think they do not need to go to school, so
they do not receive any education. It is extremely strange to see a gypsy going to the
university, even to the high school.

Now I am going to center round their culture. It is a perfectly defined culture and
thoroughly respected by their members. The first and more characteristic peculiarity is
the fact that they defend each other in such a strong way that if you have any kind of
problem with one of them, then you have it with all the community. It does not matter if
they do not know each other, if they are required to defend another family in a fight they
are obliged to go. That is a big problem, because if you have a friendship with them,
you have to become one of them and take part in all these fights. On the contrary, if you
are not a good friend of one of them then you can be the opposite part of the fight. They
are aware of the fact that non-gypsy people are afraid of them because of this, so they
take advantage of the power they have. Due to all this, the best thing one can do is to
ignore them and if one ever gets in trouble with a gypsy, apologize to them and leave.
That way, it is easy not to have problems with any member of this group.

The structure of their social network has to be commented upon. They have a boss
called ‘patriarca’ in each ‘area’ and they all have to obey him without exception. In
some occasions, if they are excesively problematic the ‘patriarca’, always an elderly
man, can even expel them from one ‘area’. Moreover, it should to be remarked that they
are a sexist social group. Men are the ones that usually work and, if women do, it is in a
stall, but of course they always carry out the housework as well. The last notable feature
of their culture is the way they celebrate a wedding. It must be always between two
gypsies and it is a huge party, it is a real ritual. Here we can also appreciate another
sexist aspect of their culture that is the fact that before the wedding is celebrated, the
bride has to pass the so called ‘Proof of the handkerchief’, that serves to know if she is a
virgin or not. If she is not, it is seen as a shame and she cannot get married.

To sum up I will say that, as always happens, there are exceptions of gypsies who work
in normal companies, dress normally and are trustworthy people. However and in spite
of the fact that it could sound racist, any Spanish person would tell you that this is not
ordinary. I hope that all this will help you to pick out more easily this collective when
you come to Spain.

María Pérez Fernández