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A boy plays on a slide made out of discarded construction material at the Romanian gypsy settlement of "El Gallinero", on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, Nov. 24. More than 400 Romanian gypsies live in precarious conditions, without running water or sewage services, in "El Gallinero", just 9 miles away from Madrid's centre. The inhabitants live in ramshackle huts made out of cardboard and zinc in an area prone to flooding. They have no running water or sewer services. Their children play amidst garbage, copper cables and rats.
Spanish gypsies watch as their homes of 50 years are demolished
Susana Vera / Reuters
Saul Gabarri Valdes, 7, cries amidst the remains of his home after it was demolished at the Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, on the outskirts of Madrid on Nov. 20.
Susana Vera / Reuters
Carmina Gabarri and her husband Victor Valdes watch as a bulldozer demolishes the small school, where they were living at after their own house was demolished, at the Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, on the outskirts of Madrid on Nov. 20.
Reuters -- Fifty-four families have been living in the Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, on the outskirts of Madrid, for over 50 years. Since the summer of 2010, the community on the banks of the Manzanares River has been subject to evictions on the grounds that the dwellings are illegal. Families, whose homes have been demolished, move in with relatives whose houses still remain while the debris keeps piling up around them as more demolitions take place.
Reuters' photographer Susana Vera has been documenting the demolition of homes in Puerta de Hierro. View before and after photos of the homes and read more about the people who live in the settlement.
Susana Vera / Reuters
Teresa Echevarria holds her son Ezequiel next to her daughter Maria, left, as they wait for a bulldozer to demolish two homes on Nov. 20.
Susana Vera / Reuters
Members of the Gabarri-Valdes family distribute their belongings to different cars after a bulldozer demolished their home in the Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, on the outskirts of Madrid on Nov. 20.
Susana Vera / Reuters
Saray Armendia uses a broom to sweep outside her caravan after a bulldozer demolished the former school, where her in-laws lived at, in the Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, on the outskirts of Madrid on Nov. 20.
Spanish gypsies lament after homes demolished
Susana Vera / Reuters
Left: Christian Gabarri sweeps the floor of a relatives' home where his family moved to after the demolition of their own home at the Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, outside Madrid, Spain, Nov. 15, 2011. Right: The remains of Gabarri's home months after it was demolished, June 26, 2012.
Photographer Susana Vera documented the demolition of a long-standing gypsy community in Spain over the course of several months. She has created diptychs that pair images from before and after the demolition, as well as tell the story of the effect on the communities, showing the demolition of houses and the displacement of families.
Susana Vera / Reuters — Fifty four families have been living in Puerta de Hierro, on the banks of the Manzanares River, north of Madrid, for over 50 years. The settlers are registered with the local government and have access to public services, but since the summer of 2010 have been subject to evictions under orders from Madrid's town planning board, on the grounds that the dwellings are illegal. Some of the eldest members of the community have been relocated to social rent flats in the city, but often their children and grandchildren have been denied the same right, leaving them homeless. The relatives whose houses are still standing take them in while the debris keeps piling up as more demolitions take place.
Susana Vera / Reuters
Left: Agustin Gabarri watches television at his home in Madrid's Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierrom, Spain, Dec. 20, 2011. Gabarri's daughter-in-law Covadonga Jimenez looking at the remains of his home the day it was demolished Feb. 15, 2012.
Susana Vera / Reuters
Left: Moises Echevarria and his father stand in front of a line of police after the demolition of their home in Madrid's Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, Spain, Feb. 15. Right: A photo of Echevarria's cousin, Gema Gabarri, lies next to the remains of her grandparents' house, where she lived, weeks after it was demolished Aug. 11.
Susana Vera / Reuters
Left: Milagros Echevarria cries outside her home in Madrid's Spanish gypsy settlement of Puerta de Hierro, Spain, Jan. 20, 2012. Right: Echevarria's husband Antonio Gabarri looks at the remains of their home hours after it was demolished July 17, 2012.
Fewer nomadic gypsies wander Romanian landscape
Mihai Barbu / EPA
A child plays in a nomadic Roma camp near Bucharest, Romania. All photos for this post were shot by EPA photographer Mihai Barbu on May 10, but made available to msnbc.com today.
A family in a nomadic Roma gypsy camp near Bucharest, Romania.
A Roma family in a nomadic gypsy camp near the village of Valea Stanii, east of Bucharest, Romania.
Roma children gather in a nomadic gypsy camp near Bucharest, Romania.
Fewer and fewer nomadic gypsies still wander the roads of Romania as people have stopped buying their traditional hand-made pans and buckets. Most Romas abandoned the gypsy way of life and left to work in western Europe or switched to collecting scrap metal in Romania.
All photos for this post were shot by EPA photographer Mihai Barbu on May 10, but made available to msnbc.com today.