La adhesión de Rumania ha hecho que los países de la UE hayan visto aparecer en su territorio cientos de miles de gitanos que necesitan lugar de acampada. En Reino Unido el gobierno ha pedido a los municipios que les provean de las correspondientes parcelas.
El coste de la broma se estima en 100 millones de libras, lo que les ha causado una considerable indignación.
Towns and villages across England are bracing themselves for 'bombshell' news on the location of hundreds of new and upgraded gipsy and traveller camps.
Work on some of the proposed 7,500 extra pitches will get the go-ahead within weeks under a controversial £97million scheme.
Targets imposed by the Government mean local authorities must provide a specified number of permanent sites with rubbish collection, running water, electricity and other services.
In return travellers will have to pay rent and council tax.
The pressure on councils has forced at least one to warn landowners of compulsory purchase. Others may follow suit.
Figures for January this year show that there are currently 4,902 pitches on local authority sites, accommodating 6,696 caravans.
But according to the charity Friends, Travellers and Families, there are around 25,000 gipsies and travellers who do not have fixed places to live.
Communities minister Iain Wright is due to announce before Christmas which projects have won grants, covering spending to 2011. Each region has been given different deadlines to achieve their targets for new pitches dependent on the current availability of sites and the number of travellers, and predictions of how many more will arrive.
Around a third of the money, £28million, is expected to go to the East of England region which is currently home to about a quarter of the country's travelling families but has only 16 per cent of official sites.
Community backlash: The Government is offering £97million in grants for councils to provide homes, such as the above campsite in Warwickshire, for up to 25,000 Gypsies and Travellers
Some £17million is being awarded to the South-East and £14million earmarked for the South-West, while £9.5million is set for the East Midlands, £7.5million for the West Midlands, £6million each for London, the North-West and Yorkshire and Humber, and £3million for the North-East.
Last night the Tories pledged to scrap the Government's target of providing 7,500 additional spaces.
Communities spokesman Eric Pickles blamed 'political correctness' for the proposed explosion in the number of official traveller camps.
'Communities across the country are going to face the bombshell of having a traveller camp dumped on their back yard, whether they like it or not,' he said.
'Councils are powerless to resist these regional targets, and are being bullied into building on the Green Belt or using compulsory purchase powers.
'It's not fair that hard-working families have to save up to get on to the housing ladder, while travellers get special treatment at taxpayers' expense.'
The plans have already provoked serious concerns.
In Milton Keynes, where the council is hoping to build a new site at Fenny Lock near Bletchley at a cost of £1.8million, councillors are fearful of a public backlash.
Labour's Reg Edwards said: 'I've got nothing against travellers, some of my family were Romanies, but travellers' sites need to be on the outskirts, not in the middle of a populated area. There'll be a lot of conflict.'
Epping Forest District Council in Essex, which has been ordered to provide 49 extra pitches by 2012, says on its website that some sites may need to be on private land.
It adds: 'Wherever possible, we would seek the owner's agreement, but as a last resort the option of Compulsory Purchase is there.'
A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: 'It's important we have enough authorised sites for gipsies and travellers to stop the vicious cycle of evictions from unauthorised sites that is costly to the taxpayer and impacts on the quality of life for the travelling community and the wider public.'
'No one consulted us'
Travellers have long used Sheepcote Valley on the outskirts of Brighton as an unofficial place to call home.
If Brighton and Hove's Conservative-led council is successful in its bid for £1.7million
of cash, the 220-acre wildlife haven could soon be a permanent base.
of cash, the 220-acre wildlife haven could soon be a permanent base.
But residents in the area fear the impact this will have on their quality of life and the environment.
Beryl Cager, 77, pictured, has lived opposite the valley for 40 years with her husband Joseph, a 75-year-old retired carpenter.
She said: 'We have had problems with travellers for years, they usually turn up late at night and by morning there's rubbish everywhere. They cause damage and don't clear up after themselves.
'I know they've got to go somewhere but surely there must be more appropriate sites than this.'
Another resident added: 'We're really upset because the council never informed us or consulted us about it. There are going to be 14 spaces but we fear that many more will turn up.'
With no official permanent site for travellers and gipsies in the Brighton area, the council scoured 45 sites before opting for Sheepcote Valley.
Tory councillor Geoffrey Theobald said: 'The obligation is to have one small, properly managed, properly screened site with a permanent manager.'
(Source: noticiasdeeurabia.wordpress.com; dailymail.co.uk)
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