‘We have a long way to go’: How Spain’s gypsies are trying to break through the glass ceiling

Roma people more likely to suffer poverty and social exclusion, but there is hope things are changing – albeit slowly, Graham Keeley reports from Barcelona

Spanish Gypsies dance during a traditional procession with the ‘Virgin of the Sierra’ at the Virgin’s shrine in Cabra (Graham Keeley/The Independent)

Susana Martinez Heredia grew up in a notorious part of Barcelona that tourists never see.

Her school friends were banned from playing at her house in La Mina because its grim tower blocks were a byword for lawlessness and poverty.

However, for Martinez her meagre upbringing was not the only barrier to contend with: she also faced prejudice for being a gypsy.