Encountering Gypsies in the form of musical groups By Natalie Garza

My second night in Sevilla I was able to start living the dream, drinking my first legal glass (pitcher) of sangria, and listening to a trio of singers out on a patio near the center of the city. I was enthralled with the "authentic" experience I was getting with this Spanish music to accent the beautiful cobble stone streets and old buildings around me. After enjoying a few songs and applauding the people kind enough to play for us, the trio came up to our group of clueless Americans and began forcefully asking for money. After saying no a few times, we gave in as we did listen to them and felt bad for not supporting a local artist. After the night ended I began thinking about this odd experience and realized that although I loved hearing the group play, I had not sat at the restaurant to listen to them, and in fact they placed themselves in front of us after we had sat down. This was not necessarily a desired outcome of sitting down for a glass of sangria, but instead, a decided outcome by the Gypsies.
Encountering Gypsies in the form of musical groups is now a frequented activity when in the street or more often sitting at a popular restaurant. This is something I have never experienced in the U.S. Aside from street performers I would say that it is almost unheard of for someone to place themselves in your view and decide that you owe them money afterwards.
Culturally I think there is a difference in personal space and bluntness between the United States and here in Spain, and this can be seen as an example through the Gypsies. In the U.S. I think it would come across as very rude to have someone intrude on a dinner, and it would anger restaurant owners to have someone begging for money in their establishment. The social expectations when having dinner or walking in the street seem to be more closed off in the U.S. and people prefer to be left alone, whereas here in Spain people may feel less violated if an interaction like that took place. This has been one of the more difficult lessons to learn here in Spain, because it feels very awkward and strange to say no to them, but one must realize that to a certain extent tourists are a target, and you cannot give money to everyone.