Seville / Spain (RNN Correspondent Union Romani Spain) 12.01.1998

The Mayor of Alcala del Rio, Jose Chamorro, has called racists to the participants in two demostrations that early in december occurred in this town near Seville, in the south of Spain, so as to protest for the possible arrival of some Roma families. Accor ding to Chamorro, ‘‘it is the same situation of last year in these dates, when in Alcala appeared some rumours about the arrival of Roma families from Seville, rumour that finally was shown as totally false.

The Diputation of Seville has recently signed up an agreement with the Spanish Romani Union in order to improve the situation of the Roma who live in five towns of the province, Alcala among them. The main aim of this plan is to enrol romani children into school and to imporve also the level of employment of their parents. ‘‘Some people from Alcala have confused this plan and the arrival to Alcala of new Roma families’’, as Chamorro assured to a local newspaper.

In view of this rumours, the Town Council of Alcala sent a comunicate to all the neighbours denying ‘‘false rumours about the relationship between the possible arrival of Roma families and the signature of the agreement with the Roma Union’’. ‘‘It seems to be a dark hand interested in creating a conflict in the town. It is sad because meanwhile, in other parts, racism is seriously combated here, in Alcalà, there are people who show racist attitudes’’, Chamorro said.