The Culture Commission of Congress gave the green light this Tuesday to a Non-Legislative Proposal (PNL) presented by the Socialist Parliamentary Group to request the Royal Spanish Academy to include the term "antigitanismo" in the Dictionary of the Spanish Language, considering it "a specific and differentiated form of racism, prejudice or discrimination directed towards Roma people".
The proposal prospered with 33 votes in favor and three against. The approved text also demands that the "extended and legitimized" use of the concept be recognized in academic, institutional, and legal fields, both in Spain and in the rest of Europe, in addition to promoting linguistic and institutional awareness about the diverse manifestations of racial and ethnic discrimination.
The initiative recalls that organizations such as the Council of Europe, the European Commission, or the Ministry of Equality already officially use the term "antigitanismo" in documents and strategies, even though it is not yet included in the RAE dictionary.
For the proposing group, incorporating this word into the DLE would be "an act of linguistic and social justice" and would help to "make visible, name, and combat" a specific form of discrimination against the Roma people.
"Despite its growing use and social recognition, the term antigitanismo is not currently included in the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DLE) of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), which represents a significant deficiency in the linguistic recognition of a social and discriminatory reality that affects thousands of people in our country," the socialist document states.