The Romani people in Portugal are known as Ciganos, and their presence goes back to the second half of the 15th century. Early on, due to their socio-cultural difference and nomadic style of life, the Ciganos were the object of fierce discrimination and persecution.[1] They belong to the Iberian Kale (Kalos) group, like the Spanish Romani people or Gitanos.
The number of Romani people in Portugal is difficult to estimate, since it is forbidden to collect statistics about race or ethnic categories in the country. According to data from Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance[2] there are about 40,000 to 50,000 spread all over the country.[3] According to the Portuguese branch of Amnesty International, there are about 30,000 to 50,000.[4]
The majority of the Romanis do not have today a nomad life style, rather concentrating themselves in the most important urban centers. This population was characterised by very low levels of educational qualification, self imposed social exclusion and residential and housing difficulties (many living in degraded ghettos). However, from the late 1990s to the 2000s, major public housing (bairros sociais) policies were targeted at providing housing for the poor, including the Portuguese Romani people.[5][6]
The Ciganos are the ethnic group that the Portuguese most reject and discriminate against, and are also targets for discriminatory practices from the State administration, namely at a local level, finding persistent difficulties in the access to job placement, housing and social services, as well as in the relation to police forces, although the most recent reports name a number of positive measures by the central administration.[7]
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