‘Surrounded by baskets of oranges and tangerines, a bright green ceramic frog stands at the entrance of Helena Conceicao’s grocery shop.
“Everybody has frogs here,” she said. “It’s to scare away Gypsies because they are afraid of frogs.”
Similar ornaments have been placed at the entrance of shops, cafes and restaurants all over Portugal.
“No one likes to have Gypsies around,” said Conceicao.
She explained that she is aware that the Portuguese law forbids discrimination, “but I’m not forced to put up with people who steal and cause trouble”.
Ten shopkeepers in Porto admitted to using ceramic frogs to dissuade Roma from entering their shops. Only Conceicao agreed to go on record.
Roma communities in Portugal see frogs as symbols of evil and bad luck.’
‘”Older generations still have a strong superstition about frogs and wouldn’t come close to any shop displaying them,” explained Gil. “But younger generations don’t care. They would refuse to enter shops with frogs because of the racist meaning behind it and not because of superstition.”‘
