The thesis seeks to understand and explain, through an examination of the linguistic, historical and social background to their relationship, the evolution in contemporary Spanish non-Gypsy (Payo) perceptions of and attitudes to the Gypsy (Gitano) minority in late twentieth-century Spain. After analysing the historical background to the objectifying production and reproduction of Gitano identity in Payo descriptions of the Gitano community, the thesis researches the functioning of Gitano support organisations. It then studies the relevance of theories of race and racism to the debate about the Gitano-Payo relationship. The next section of the thesis focuses on the press reporting of two 1990s cases in Madrid of attempts to rehouse Gitano families, the first at Villaverde (1991), the latter at Valdemingomez (1994-2000), drawing on primary and other sources to build up a picture of how the view from the outside was constructed. By pulling together all these allied historical and contemporary social threads, the thesis tests the proposition that Payo attitudes to and perceptions of Gitanos are in a period of positive transition.