Remember the old joke from Franco's time.
Q: " why do the police treat black people badly?"
A: They don't. They treat everyone like blacks!"
When I lived in Spain people thought I was a Gitana and I am Latina. When I lived in India, Indians thought I was Indian. I can pass for many things and I can believe that your friend might have also passed for Gitano. However, I don't know why the police would try to arrest him, but I never had any run ins with the them.
And yes, Gitanos did originate in Rajasthan, India. They don't look Indian to me because they have probably mixed with many other ethnic groups since migrating out of India.
Hello!
I'm Spanish.
It's very difficult Spanish confuse Indians with Spanish gypsies. Spanish gypsies do not speak the Roma language, but Spanish, so that's enough to identify them over any foreigner. Althought is possible he was confuse with a Romanian gypsy, if he shared a physical trait with them, specially if he was in the old town of one of the major cities.
It is also possible they confuse him with an immigrant with a history of theft. Or, simply, the policeman was a racist.
Gypsies have a very bad reputation in Spain. Spanish gypsies (actually, some gypsy clans, because there are many gypsies integrated into society) control the drug business, and Romanian gypsies rob tourists and natives alike, sometimes using their children.
What city was, Madrid or Barcelona?
Gitanos didn't originate in India. In fact, no one knows for sure WHERE they originated, but the best guess is Egypt. Far cry from India. The second best guess is Romania, where most gypsies originated.
No. It has nothing to do with looking like a gypsy. What would make you think that? Surely, he fit the description of someone who was truly wanted.
I don't think they would care what colour they were and during my last visit to Spain I was shocked by the amount of pakistani/indian/moroccan/african immigrants there is working in the bars and shops and selling gifts on the beach.
No, not really.
Here in Spain there are a lot of thieves from Pakistan and India, mainly in beaches.
Indians dont look anything like Gypsies.
I say No
I know Gitanos in Spain originated/migrated from India but they don't look similar as they have adapted to their surroundings.
I have a friend who recently travelled to Spain (who has brown/tan skin and is Indian) and he was almost arrested by the police for nothing. Is this because they thought he was a gitano who has a bad name of being a thief?
