Great Gypsy Round-up

Marquis de la Ensenada, Royal Minister who organized the roundup.

Fernando VI, who approved the Great Roundup.

The Great Gypsy Round-up (Spanish: Gran Redada de Gitanos), also known as the general imprisonment of the gypsies (prisión general de gitanos), was a raid authorized and organized by the Spanish Monarchy that led to the arrest of most gypsies (Romani) in the region. Although a majority were released after a few months, many others spent several years imprisoned and subject to forced labor. The raid was approved by the King Ferdinand VI of Spain, and organized by the Marquis of Ensenada, and set in motion simultaneously across Spain on July 30, 1749.^[1]

Since a royal edict by Charles II in 1695, Spanish gypsies had been restricted to certain towns.^[2] An official edict in 1717 restricted them to only 75 towns and districts, so that they would not be concentrated in any one region.

Organization[]

The plans for the roundup were developed in secrecy. Among the first to draw up plans was the appointed Governor of the Council of Castile, Gaspar Vázquez Tablada, Bishop of Oviedo. It was later also supported by the opinion of the Jesuit Father Francisco Rávago, confessor to Ferdinand VI, whose reply about the morality of the roundup can be summarised in his commentary that:

The means proposed by the governor of the council to root out this bad race, which is hateful to God and pernicious to man, seem good to me. The king will be making a great gift to God, Our Lord, if he manages to get rid of these people.

The plan entailed sending troops to the towns with gypsy settlements, each carrying sealed set of instructions, which were only to be revealed to the commanders on a date just prior to the roundup in August. The gypsy settlements were to be surrounded, and all able-bodied adult gypsy males were internally deported to forced labor in the Naval arsenals or to specified mines, prisons, or factories. The women and children were forced into clothing manufacture. Those too ill to travel would remain in military custody until well enough to travel, or until they reached a "Christian death". The operation was to be funded by confiscated goods and homes of the gypsies.^[3]

The mechanics of the raid varied in efficiency from town to town. The roundup in Seville, where the city gates were closed by the encircling army to prevent the target's escape, created alarm in the general public, who was ignorant of the goals. Special proclamations were obtained to avoid the use of churches as an asylum. The definition of who exactly was a gypsy proved to be difficult in many cases and was prone to abuse. For example, Gypsies married to non-gypsies were often spared. Nomadic gypsies, already less frequent, proved difficult to the roundup. Ultimately, nearly 9,000 gypsies were detained, 5,000 of which were released three months later due to pleas, protests from neighbors and local authorities. The remaining 4,000 who did not benefit from community support would be released gradually from 1750 onwards over an eight year plight during which it is estimated around 500 perished due to various causes.^[4]

Reversal[]

The immediate outrage and protests caused by the imprisonment of those gypsies who were well integrated in their community led to the release of a majority of those imprisoned three months following the round-up. The remaining 4000 were released gradually from 1750 onwards. By 1763, the hundred remaining prisoners were pardoned and released by Royal decree.

Sources[]

• Antonio Gómez Alfaro, La Gran Redada de Gitanos, Ed. presencia gitana, Madrid, 1993. ISBN 84-87347-09-6
• Teresa San Román. La diferencia inquietante, (esp. págs. 38 a 43) Ed. Siglo XXI. Madrid, 1997. ISBN 84-323-0951-6
• Angus Fraser, Los gitanos, (esp. pág. 170 y sig.), Ed. Ariel, Barcelona, 2005, ISBN 84-344-6780-1.
• Becky Taylor, Another Darkness Another Dawn London UK. 2014.ISBN 978-1-78023-257-7

Notes[]