ABSTRACT
Anthropologists and historians writing on the Gitanos portray them as descendants of the so called 'bands of Egyptians' that, according to written records, crossed the Pyrenees and arrived on the Peninsula in the early fifteenth century. In fact, there are wide variations among Gypsy groups - including the ways in which they construct their difference from the dominant populations and express their identity as Gypsies. While some have remained nomadic up to the present, others became sedentary decades or even centuries ago. Many speak one of the many Romany dialects but there are others - for example the Gitanos - who speak the language of the non-Gypsy peoples among whom they live. It is important to stress that the Gitanos are not the only minority of local origin in Spain - by 'of local origin' the author means historically established in the country, in contrast with recent Latin American, Caribbean, North African and Filipino immigrants.
