Spanish authorities investigate after Roma families driven from homes

Spanish prosecutors are investigating local authorities after several families of Roma ethnicity were driven from their homes in a town in the south of the country, following the killing of a local man.

Álvaro Soto, a 29-year-old nightclub security guard, died after being stabbed following an argument outside a bar on July 17th in the town of Peal de Becerro, in the province of Jaén. Four men from the Gypsy community were arrested in connection with the case. Two of them have since been released on bail, while the other two remain in custody.

The day after the incident, local people organised a demonstration demanding justice. Immediately after it, a group of people went on a rampage in an area of the town where Gypsy families live. They painted graffiti on the walls of several homes and started a fire in one of them. Three cars belonging to Gypsy families were also damaged.

The violence caused seven Gypsy families – 22 adults and nine children – to leave the town, which has a population of around 5,000. They are reportedly now being helped by Roma families in nearby towns.

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“We left everything behind in order to get out of there because we were afraid of the reaction of the town and afraid for our lives,” José Luis Amador, one of those who fled, told El País newspaper. “But we want to have a home where we can go.”

In a video message posted two days after the demonstration, the mayor of the town, David Rodríguez, said this was “one of the worst moments in the history of Peal de Becerra”. He expressed support for the family of Álvaro de Soto and called for justice to be done.

He did not mention the Gypsy families whose homes had been attacked, although he added: “There is no place for those people who take advantage of suffering and these moments of anger and pain in order to create division and more violence in our town.”

Meanwhile, the central government’s local representative, Catalina Madueño, said that “neither Peal de Becerro nor the province of Jaén are racist”.

However, the Spanish Gypsy Society has presented a lawsuit against Mr Rodríguez, Ms Madueño and the local police. In its complaint, the Society said the local authorities should not have allowed the July 18th demonstration, which, it said, “ended with vandalism and criminal attacks on Gypsy families”.

The region of Andalucía prosecutor’s office is now investigating how the local authorities handled the situation.

The incident in Peal de Becerra came just days after the introduction of a new equality law which seeks to identify hate crimes based on sexuality, ethnicity, or religion. Hate crimes against members of the Gypsy community can be punishable with up to four years in prison under the law.

This month also marks the anniversary of a notorious anti-Gypsy pogrom in 1749, supported by King Fernando VI.

“The case of Peal de Becerro should mark a major shift, it should bring about a greater commitment by all of us against this scourge which has lasted too long,” said Diego Fernández Jiménez, head of the Institute for Gypsy Culture.