The production of socio-spatial injustice towards the Romani population during the franco regime: The neighborhoods of Lo Campano and los Mateos in Cartagena (Spain)

Abstract

62.8% of the Romani population in Spain lives in settlements that are segregated from the urban center or in peripheral neighborhoods, a sign of their historical persecution and discrimination. Anti-Romani sentiment has been territorialized by eliminating autonomy and means of self-production of space, with urban planning and housing policies being a key element in the materialization of their urban segregation, particularly during the Franco regime. Identifying the Romani as a surplus element in urban space led to their expulsion from self-produced housing, relocating them to peripheral social housing neighborhoods. Through the case studies, this article analyzes the Lo Campano and Los Mateos neighborhoods in Cartagena, Spain, the production of socio-spatial injustice against the Romani during Franco's regime, using Nancy Fraser's (1996) definition of social justice, and Giddens' (1994) structuration theory, as an analytical framework. The results indicate that these policies formed the basis of an urban and housing necropolitical exercise against the Romani, identifying them as surplus to the urban space and expelling them from their self-built homes to peripheral social housing.