page_title: Vaqueiros de alzada
section_title: Discrimination & racism
hierarchical_section_title: Vaqueiros de alzada / Discrimination & racism
caption_attribution_description: English: The church of Brañalonga Español: La iglesia de Brañalonga Asturianu: L'eilesia d'Brañaḷḷonga
context_page_description: The Vaqueiros de Alzada are a northern Spanish nomadic people in the mountains of Asturias and León, who traditionally practice transhumance, i.e. moving seasonally with cattle.
  Vaqueiros have a culture separate from their non-Vaqueiro Asturian and Leonese neighbors and can often be distinguished by their last names, many of which are unique to Vaqueiros including Acero, Alonso, Antón, Ardura, Arnaldo, Berdasco, Boto, Calzón, Cano, Feito, Gancedo, Garrido, Gavilán, Gayo, Parrondo, Redruello, Riesgo, Rubio, Sirgo, and Verdasco among others.
context_section_description: Discrimination against Vaqueiros has been recorded since nearly the first written record of Vaqueiros. Vaqueiros were segregated in most public places, particularly the Church, and were banned from running for local office or from voting. Because Vaqueiros were nomadic and lived in the brañas, some Vaqueiros did not pay taxes or tithes which led to the forced sedentarization of Vaqueiros for purposes of tax collection.
  For most of their known history, Vaqueiros were considered a separate and inferior race to non-Vaqueiro Asturians and Leonese and the concept of purity of blood was evoked to oppress Vaqueiros on the basis that they were an inferior race. In 1551, Vaqueiru men were ordered to be castrated by regidor Don Diego das Marinas to prevent Vaqueiros from reproducing. Vaqueiros were the subjects of scientific racism, in particular a case in the early 20th century in which the Vaqueiros of the braña of Buspol in Salas were the subjects of phrenological studies in which they were deemed ‘mongoloids’. The Vaqueiros were considered by race scientists and their non-Vaqueiro neighbors to be brachycephalic due to inbreeding, though they have proven to be no more brachycephalic than nearby non-Vaqueiro populations. 
  Segregation of Vaqueiros occurred in churches, cemeteries, bars, and holiday festivals. Early church segregation most often presented as class segregation between nobles, peasants, and Vaqueiros, with Vaqueiros at the bottom of the hierarchy and eventually evolved into ethnic segregation, dividing non-Vaqueiros and Vaqueiros. In bars, Vaqueiros were not allowed to drink out of glasses and instead were made to drink from cups made of animal horns. In 1844, a law was passed to make segregation illegal, however it was largely ignored and did little to curb the segregation of Vaqueiros. It is difficult to tell when exactly the segregation of Vaqueiros ended, but there are reports of segregated churches as late as 1955.
  A suicide epidemic among the Vaqueiros has been active since at least the 1960s and the Vaqueiros have one of the greatest suicide rates in Europe at least 28.
  Today, Vaqueiros face environmental inequality and a lack of opportunities. Many Vaqueira brañas lack sufficient roads, some lack electricity, and others lack running water. Many Vaqueiro brañas face environmental threats such as mining. In 2007, an electrical substation was installed in the braña of Buspol in Salas, against the protests of the Vaqueiros. In July 2019, the river that supplies water to the braña of Concernoso in Valdés was contaminated when nearby a bio-slurry fertilizer plant stopped collecting manure. Despite this the Coordinadora Ecoloxista d’Asturies claimed the water was still potable.
caption: The church of Brañalonga with a filled-in door on the left which was formerly the door for Vaqueiros
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