The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, participated this Friday in the commemoration of the International Day of Roma Resistance, held in the Central Library of Cantabria, where she highlighted the commitment of the central Executive to the memory, equality and inclusion of the Roma people, especially Roma women, “pillars of their community” and referents “of struggle, culture and leadership”.
The event, organised by the Gypsy Women’s Association, included a talk on the history of 16 May 1944, when more than 6,000 Roma people rose up in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in the face of the threat of extermination. The intervention was carried out by the president of the association Dikela Romi, Julia Hernández Lozano, who has claimed the memory of ‘Porraimos’, the gypsy genocide perpetrated during the Second World War.
During the event, the Aurora Awards were presented, which recognize the work of entities and people in favor of the Roma community. In this edition, the Aurora Prize for Inclusion has been awarded to the Equi-Sastipen-Rroma Network; the Aurora Prize for Equality, to the National Federation of Gypsy Women Kamira; and the Prize for the Participation of the Gypsy People has fallen to Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia.
Gómez de Diego has expressed his “emotion and pride” in being able to share this act with progressive gypsy women, whom he has praised for their “daily strength” and their role in preserving Roma cultural identity. He also recalled the figure of Aurora, a gypsy activist and leader in the fight for equality.
"Talking about the gypsy woman is talking about strength, about daily struggle, about an identity that has been preserved with pride in the midst of adversity," said the delegate, who also pointed out that the history of the gypsy people "has been marked by injustice and marginalization, by challenging marked stereotypes, but also by the cultural, social and linguistic contribution to our country."
Year of the Gypsy People
In his speech, he stressed that the Government of Spain has declared 2025 as the Year of the Gypsy People, in commemoration of the 600 years of presence in the Iberian Peninsula. An initiative that, he said, "goes beyond symbolism" and seeks to "recognize the historical and current injustices, and guarantee a life of equality and freedom".
The representative of the Executive has warned about the risk of oblivion and the banalization of the past. "The Roma genocide was one of the most silenced chapters of the Holocaust, and even today it does not receive the attention it deserves in the collective memory," he said, insisting on the need for "truth, justice and reparation" as pillars of democratic memory.
Gómez de Diego has called for unity in the face of the rise of the extreme right and has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the fight against discrimination, intolerance and social exclusion. “We cannot allow gypsy talent to be wasted for lack of opportunities,” he said, calling for the need for “intercultural education, dialogue and empowerment.”
The event concluded with the performance of flamenco songs by the artist Verónica León, in an atmosphere full of emotion, memory and vindication.