Mercheros

The Quinqui Language (about "junk dealer, distributor"), traditional as Quinqui referred are one since the 17th century witnessed social fringe group in Spain , whose representatives nomads lived or semi-sedentary and more often than peddlers pursue mobile trades ( quincalleros "tinware merchants, tinkers "). Because the word quinqui is also used in a generalized way for " tramp, drifting around , rascal ", the Quinqui prefer the neutral term merchero .

Their special language ( ISO 639-3 : quq ) is an argot, comparable to German Rotwelsch , based on Spanish , which works with Castilian archaisms and vocabulary parts from Basque , Erromintxela and Romani (compare the Caló language ). The Mercheros or Quinqui do not see themselves as gitanos ( Roma ).

At the international political level, the Quinqui are represented with comparable groups from other countries under the collective name Travelers or gens de voyage ( Traveling People ), among others in the following organizations: European Roma and Traveler Forum in Strasbourg, Council of Europe , OSCE . They and their social discrimination are also examined in antigypsy research.

One of the most famous Quinqui is Eleuterio Sánchez Rodríguez (* 1942), called "El Lute", a former Spanish thief and escapee and today's lawyer and author.

Web links

• Ethnologue -language entry: Quinqui .