I have just received a message from the organization Hablamos Español with the headline: „The language changes of the Valencian Ministry of Education seem lukewarm to us and discriminate against many Spanish-speaking families.“

Unfortunately, this message is not surprising and readers of this blog have already learned early on that Spain's conservative parties will not keep their promises regarding language policy.

The communication begins by stating: “For months we have been witnessing a stream of headlines and statements referring to a „fix“ for the linguistic chaos that the Socialist and Compromís government has left in the Valencian Community. The Popular Party and VOX promised before the current bipartisan government was formed that they would put an end to linguistic paternalism, and they were quite specific about what they would do in the education sector to put an end to compulsory immersion in the regional language, which has been implemented in the education system by leaps and bounds.

Both PP and VOX have publicly defended the free choice of language, that families should choose the language of instruction, as we at Hablamos Español propose, but what we see does not convince us, indeed, it worries us, so we will explain what is happening, based on our experience and given the attitude of the politicians in charge regarding this issue“

In addition to mentioning previous positive elements such as: “We are in favor of learning the regional language in a sensible way, without indoctrination and within the framework of a system of linguistic choice“, the message points to negative aspects.

„Several sections of the law on multilingualism will be suspended. Language projects may be modified; it will no longer be mandatory to take at least 25% of subjects (including a core subject) in Valenciano, but this will only apply to students from declared Castilian-speaking localities, discriminating against other Spanish-speaking students in the community. The fine print also states that this change is not decided by families, but by school boards, which are often influenced by the media and have already decided to approve language projects with a low presence of Spanish.“

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„Families still have to claim their right to receive communications, including in Spanish. The regional ministry refuses to extend this right, which is protected by the Spanish constitution. It also does not want to guarantee the right to take exams in Spanish, and it also makes it very difficult for us to demand that at least 25% Spanish be taught in some schools where the main subjects are taught in Valenciano.“

It's time to learn that you can't trust party politicians. Separatists and nationalist language dictators of all stripes, Spanish and regionalist, need each other. The people must not really decide anything, that is the only thing they agree on.