Facts for media users
Valenciano language impositions debates on social media

October 5, 2024

There was an unusually high number of comments on my last post „25% Valenciano - parents not asked!“. Some of them are astonishingly fact-free or simply insulting. Others, thankfully, responded objectively to these objections. I don't usually comment in these media. However, it seems sensible to me to help by pointing out a few facts.

In the following, I quote a few examples from an English- and a German-language facebook group from the immediate vicinity of my Spanish hometown and start with the insults that resemble a kick „Get out of here!“.

Get lost!

I am used to being called a fascist by extremist PSOE and Compromís (Greens) supporters at demonstrations in favour of the free choice of language. I am quoting only three „nicer“ comments here.

* „If you don't like Valencia, Spain is big, move to Murcia“
* „You have to be very ignorant to complain about it. If you don't like it, leave and problem solved“
* „When you moved here, you knew that Valencian is spoken here.“

The majority of Valencians are native Spanish speakers. So this request from migrants to locals to leave their homeland is somewhat disturbing. How enthusiastic will families (national Spanish administrations, military, national police, etc.) be who have been transferred here for work?

I moved here with my family 26 years ago to work. There was no recognisable language problem back then. My eldest child studied in Valencia, my youngest had to go to Madrid to do so, because a political change had implemented language imposition at university. It got worse and worse with the dominance of political movements that „recognise“ more than two sexes, that propagate gendering, wokeness and cancel culture¹.

Valenciano imposition democratically decided?

This quote
„The guidelines for languages in schools were issued by the government, which was elected by the citizens of Valencia.“
is supposed to stand for some contributions that say that everything was done democratically, that's the way it is in a representative democracy.

You certainly can have different opinions about such a democracy, especially as it exists in different variants². In Germany, we are used to politicians promising all sorts of things before the election and then doing whatever they want after the election. This was also the case in the last election in Valencia with regard to the language imposition.

Before the election, the parties now in power, PP and VOX, promised that they would implement the demands for parents to be free to choose the language of instruction. No sooner have they been elected than they are once again dictating to parents, i.e. their voters, what lessons should look like.

I think the Swiss model of democracy with referendums is more democratic. There should have been a response to the 500,000 signatures (= 10% of the population) in favour of a free choice of language collected by the Hablamos Español organisation back in 2018.

„Learning several languages does no harm“

True and not true! Why doesn't anyone in Europe suggest teaching Kiswahili³, Hindi⁴ or Ainu⁵ in school? There's no harm in that, is there?

Obviously, all parents assume that their children should learn something useful. You can have different opinions about what is useful and what is not. I fully understand the parents who want their children to be taught in their mother tongue, Valenciano, because it is easiest to learn in your mother tongue. Also, you can't express your feelings so well in a foreign language. Majority languages⁶ sometimes have a negative imperial character and the preservation of local cultures and languages serves to counteract this. Cultural diversity is not negative in principle. In Spain, local languages and traditions can and could coexist well. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees this as a positive thing.

When assessing which foreign language (Spanish is not a foreign language here!) will be useful, one can of course only guess. Obviously, English is prioritised by Spanish and Valenciano speakers as the leading world language. Without Valenciano, Spanish speakers could opt for another foreign language such as French.

More French teachers would be a financial problem? I maintain that one reason for the language imposition and the dispute about it is precisely to prevent informative discussion about the use of our taxes. In a representative democracy, politicians also decide taxes after the elections.

A child who doesn't speak Valenciano wants to work in a job where Valenciano is required? In this case, learning several languages won't hurt! If you speak Spanish and French, Valenciano is child's play and if you grew up in a rural area, you will have already learned a lot on the street anyway.

„Why don't you go to private school?“

The Valenciano imposition is not exercised so strongly there, according to the comments. Who can pay for that? I wrote a slightly satirical article 3 years ago: If you're poor, you hardly need Spanish in response to the increasing Valenciano imposition at the time.

Official languages

The German state Brandenburg has approx. 2.5 million inhabitants, the Comunidad Valencia approx. 5 million. 20-30,000 Sorbs with Sorbian as their mother tongue live in Brandenburg. In Valencia, the proportion of Valenciano speakers is estimated to be around one third (2 million).⁷

The Brandenburg Constitution does not recognise an official language. It is written in German. It states in Article 25 Paragraph 3: „The right to the preservation and promotion of the Sorbian/Wendish language and culture in public life and its teaching in schools and day-care centres is guaranteed.“ and in Paragraph 4: „In the traditional settlement area of the Sorbian/Wendish people, the Sorbian/Wendish language shall be included in public labelling.“

The Valencian Constitution (Article 6) gives constitutional status to the two official languages, Spanish and Valenciano.

The two signs on official buildings in the photo next to this are one example of how the respective governments deal with bilingualism in their country.

In fact, the language of the Valencian majority is not only disregarded by public officials at official buildings. Signage on roads, for example, mocks Spanish speakers, so to speak.

„Why is 'Catalonia Conflict' even allowed to post here? - or anywhere?“

Carolina asks indignantly from Benissa. I don't know if Carolina is a fan of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is calling for even stricter censorship throughout Europe than is unfortunately already in place in most member states and in the so-called social media.

I'm going to interpret this question positively and hope she only meant it in relation to the fact that we live in the Comunidad Valenciana and not in Catalonia.

The adjacent photo, which I took back in 2019, provides an initial answer on closer inspection. With the demonstrators' demand: 'No to the Catalan lands' (NO A LOS PAISES CATALANES), they are defending themselves against being co-opted by Catalan separatist politics.

I learnt at the time and wrote on my website about the map of the Catalan separatists adjacent: „The Catalan government exports the conflict into communities with Catalan population, supporting all efforts of the separatists including financial means to destroy Spain. An important tool is the establishment of a language dictatorship that is not afraid to use the same means as Franco. .“ I wouldn't put it like that today.

The screenshot adjacent shows a satirical protest video against a speech on Spanish languages by José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the EU and Co-operation. The fact is, instead of Catalans, Valencians live in Valencia, Mallorcans, Menorcans, etc. in the Balearic Islands. I have learnt this in the meantime and have reported on various articles on my website about how the Catalan separatists support institutions in Valencia with money. Above all, to Catalanise the Valencian language. It's as if the town hall of Liverpool were giving money to London institutions so that they could Liverpoolise Cockney. The separatists are well aware of how language conflicts can help to dismember Spain.

Dismemberment of Spain - fear mongering?

On 3 October, the adjacent article appeared with the title: „Parliament receives an initiative to declare the independence of the Valencian Community“ and the subtitles: „The Secretary General of 'Catalan[!] Solidarity for Independence' and an activist from Compromís [Greens] are among the supporters of the initiative“ and „Once approved by the Presidency, 10,000 signatures are required to be debated in Parliament“.

This separatism reminds many Spaniards of Yugoslavia. The war in the 1990s probably cost 200,000 lives. And for what? For the fact that all ex-Yugoslavians are now members of the EU or want to become members? Back then, languages and religions played an important role on the surface of the warring parties. I wonder whether languages are just as good for war as religions.

Whatever the case may be. The division of Yugoslavia has brought one result. The US government was able to expand its more than 700 military bases worldwide by adding Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. This is like an unsinkable aircraft carrier and the tensions between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians can be increased or regulated as a world policeman as required.

Must the language imposition remain so that the Yugoslavian model can be implemented in Spain if necessary? I don't know and I don't have an answer for everything.

Footnotes

¹ I refuse to characterise these movements as left-wing or green

² For example, majority voting (USA, England) or proportional representation (Germany).

³ 5-10 million speakers in Africa

⁴ 370 million native speakers in India

⁵ approx. 10 speakers in northern Japan

⁶ Globally, this mainly affects Spanish, English and French with their former colonial empires.

⁷ The source of this chart from 2018 (http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/constitucion.tp.html#a1) has changed and now shows the Spanish constitution. I have not found more recent data and even the AI (https://chatgpt.com/) shows: „About 2 million people in the Valencian Community speak Valenciano“, but cannot substantiate this with any source even when asked.

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