Calé

Calé

The Romani in Spain, generally known by the endonym Calé, or the exonym gitanos (Spanish pronunciation: [xiˈtanos]), belong to the Iberian Romani subgroup known as Calé, with smaller populations in Portugal (known as ciganos) and in Southern France. Their sense of identity and cohesion stems from their shared value system, expressed among the gitanos as the leyes gitanas ('Gypsy laws').Traditionally, they maintain their social circles strictly within their patrigroups, as interaction between patrigroups increases the risk of feuding, which may result in fatalities. The emergence of Pentecostalism has impacted this practice, as the lifestyle of Pentecostal gitanos involves frequent contact with Calé people from outside their own patrigroups during church services and meetings. Data on ethnicity are not collected in Spain, although the public pollster CIS estimated in 2007 that the number of Calé present in Spain is probably around one million.

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