Breaking secular endogamy. The growth of intermarriage among the Gitanos/Calé of Spain (1900–2006)

Abstract

ABSTRACT For over five centuries the Gitanos/Calé of Spain have shown a marked preference for marrying within their ethnocultural community. In the last decades, however, various Gitano groups have experienced a rise in intermarriage that is transforming their families, their identities and their interactions with mainstream society. This paper analyzes this historical transformation in an area of Andalusia that shows some of the highest concentrations of Romani people in Western Europe. Ethnographic and historical-demographic research allowed the reconstitution of 3,336 Gitano families formed from 1900 to 2006. Of these 421 (12,6%) were mixed. This rate increased to over 25% in the 2000s, and in some localities about half of the recent Gitano marriages were mixed. Three major findings emerge from this case study. Firstly, the local environment plays a key role in intermarriage. Local history generated different intercultural environments and relationships in adjacent municipalities, leading to diverse levels of intermarriage. Secondly, more Gitanas are marrying non-Gitano men than vice versa. Since 1990 Gitanas made 60% of all mixed unions. Thirdly, Gitanas in mixed marriages tend to marry later and to have fewer children than those in endogamous unions. Thus, these women may have been trailblazers in the fertility transitions of Gitano women. The paper hypothesizes that the incorporation of the Gitano/Calé people into the institutions of the Welfare State has favored interactions across ethnic boundaries, reduced social distance, and facilitated intermarriage. The upward mobility of some Gitano families may be turning socioeconomic and educational homogamy against ethnic endogamy.