Spanish Gypsy
The Romani in Spain, known as Calé or gitanos (Spanish pronunciation: [xiˈtanos], an exonym which the community has adopted, literally translated into English as Gypsies) belong to the Iberian Romani subgroup known as Calé, with smaller populations in Portugal (known as ciganos) and in Southern France (known as gitans). Their sense of identity and cohesion stems from their shared value system, expressed among gitanos as las 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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