In Portugal, since 1526, Gypsies have been subjected to state measures of repression, expulsion, punishment and condemnation. Since his arrival in Europe, they have always been treated with suspicion and a target of rejection. In Portugal, Spain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, France and Britain discriminatory measures were implemented, from the death penalty, deportation to the colonies to the obligation to move from place to place, city to city, and from country to country. Even today in Portugal and other European countries, Romaphobia is a well-established phenomenon in institutions and daily life. They are the "Intern Strange", although they have no other homeland of reference. Simmel (1908), addresses the tense relation of repulsion, distance, but also of approximation between the strange and the non-strange, a situation that contains important dualisms to be unveiled, such as identity vs. alterity and distance vs. proximity. In fact, there is a tendency to emphasize the general qualities we have in common with the foreigner and to accentuate the particularities, but we can also deny the factors of similarity, as is often the case with Gypsies. Through the case studies carried out by the authors, it is intended to explain how Gypsies embody this metaphorical figure and as such indicates a constant relationship of strangeness and tension that marks the history of the interaction between the majority and the Gypsies.

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