Spain

Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the Andalusia region of Spain.We work there mainly with under age Gypsy population. The social situation of gitanos in Andalucía in general and Granada in particular is quite complex, despite recent improvements in living conditions and access to social systems (e.g. housing, health, education). According to the Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG 2010), many problems remain unsolved in regard to the following factors: impoverished living conditions in shanty towns and substandard housing; ‘ghettoization’, or the creation of ghettos in public areas with a predominantly gitano population; high levels of truancy and school dropout, especially in secondary education; social exclusion from dominant Spanish society (Salinas 2005); persistence of a negative social image as people who often steal and commit crimes; and repeated experiences of discrimination (FSG 2014).

The Centro Español de Investigaciones Científicas (CIS 2006) reports that more than 40% of Spaniards are bothered by having gitanos as neighbours, and one in four does not like having gitanos in the same class as their children. According to CIS (2006), the most pressing problems of gitanos are unemployment (38.1%), discrimination and prejudice (23.6%), racism (23%), and housing (18.5%). Among gitanos, the feeling of being rejected by payos is still the greatest concern (MI 2009).

Our current projects in Spain include:

During our trajectory, RJI has focused in assisting children at social risk to improve their education, raise environmental conservation awareness and create better living conditions.