The Spanish democratic transition represented an opportunity for Roma to become involved in formal politics. In 1977, during the first democratic elections, Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia became the first Roma in Spain elected to the Spanish Parliament, running on the list of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE). In the picture, Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia during his famous speech of 7th of June, 1978 in the Spanish Congress in defence of the minority rights of the Spanish Roma and against the proposition of the law imposing new rules on Roma population.