„The Valencian Ombudsman urges the Ministry of Education to ban discrimination against Spanish“ reads the title of this Spanish online newspaper, showing below the triumvirate responsible for language imposition in Valencia. From left to right: the President of the Valencian Community, the Valencian Minister of Education and the Mayor of the City of Valencia.

Under the title it says, among other things, that more than 38,000 signatures support the initiative that keeps „Catalanism in the Valencian community“ in check. This initiative refers to the signature campaign by „Hablamos Español“ which I reported on 1 March.

Catalanism in Valencia?

This is correctly understood, because the attempt of the Catalan separatists to break away from Spain goes hand in hand with the attempt to incorporate, so to speak, the Valencian community and the Balearic Islands with the concept of „Països Catalans“. This export of conflict is accompanied by attempts to Catalanise the regional languages such as Valenciano, Mallorquin, Menorquin etc., to which there is considerable resistance.

Unfortunately, these efforts by Catalan separatists are more or less openly supported by the triumvirate, which also includes payments from Catalonia to corresponding organisations. There have already been several reports on this blog, among others under the title Tax money rains on separatists in Valencia.

The current situation

The good news is that by now the separatists themselves are at odds over the language requirement. The bad news is that the Catalan government continues to refuse to comply with the decision of the highest Catalan and Spanish courts to allow at least 25% teaching in Spanish for the majority of Spanish speakers in Catalonia. Total immersion (in the regional language) is supposed to apply to students who have to go to public schools because they cannot afford private schooling.

The immersión now also applies to Ukrainian refugees, of course. The Valencian government commendably provides a translation service and what does it become? „The website prioritises communication content in Valenciano over Spanish from the start.“. What a joy, every refugee will proudly add „My language skills now include Valenciano“ to their CV when they return to Ukraine.

More interesting is the news that support for separatism has fallen to an all-time low, as reported by el Mundo. That may well be the case, but it is no reason for exuberant optimism.

One must always keep in mind that it cannot be a question of demanding only 25% Spanish. This demand runs the risk of distracting from the real necessities. Parents should have the right to decide on the language of instruction for their children, as „Hablamos Español“ demands. Only this regulation creates fair opportunities in Spanish school education.

How necessary this is can be judged not only by the civil servants and employees who are transferred and whose pupils then, let's say, only learned Catalan and are now suddenly taught in Basque, i.e. in a completely foreign language. A child with Down's syndrome and with a reduced capacity of 33% is refused instruction in Spanish. „The boy doesn't understand anything in class. All the books are in Valenciano, except for two stories in Spanish.“ Since 5 October, the mother has been waiting in vain for a reply to her petition for her son to be taught in Spanish. So much for the inclusion demanded by the PSOE and the green nationalists of the coalition party Compromís.