More and more Spaniards are turning to the UN for help A cry for help from Mallorca
The well-informed are aware of the shortage of doctors in the Balearics, because the knowledge of Catalan is more important to the local government than proof of medical competence. Now several Balearic civil organizations have turned to the UNESCO.
„Balearic civil organizations ask UNESCO to protect bilingualism“ headlines the local edition of „UH Noticias“. Six Balearic Organizations have written a document under the guidance of the „PLIS Educación“ [1] asking to protect bilingualism meaning the two official languages Spanish and Catalan in the Balearic Islands.
They point out in this document that parents are deprived of the right to determine the vernacular language used to teach their children, that only proof of a certain level of Catalan counts to obtain work in public administration, that pupils are indoctrinated in the classrooms, that text books favour separatism etc.
It was March of this year that the organization „Hablamos Español“ approached the UN Minorities Rapporteur with a report detailing the situation of the language imposition against the Spanish-speaking majorities in the autonomous regions and asked for help.
Now „Hablamos Español“ has requested Ximo Puig (PSOE), the president of the Valencian regional government, to withdraw a decree [2] from February of this year, that will provide town halls with bonuses if they eliminate Spanish writings.
In an article in „El País“ on April 7, Ximo Puig complained that Valenciano was a minority language and therefore needed support. „When we came to the government, 97% of the children had a high level of education in Spanish, 36% in Valencian and 6% in English. What needs to be reversed is this situation.“ Puig is quoted.
Asked whether Spanish was at risk in the Valencian Community, Puig had previously reacted by saying that it was pathetic and ridiculous to ask this question at all.
Anyone who speaks some Spanish will find that bilingualism does not exist in almost every Valencian community. For example, while every street under Franco was labeled „Calle“, everything is now labeled „Carrer“. Town halls are monolingual Valenciano. Those who start school now start with 65% Valenciano but only 20% Spanish. If Spanish is taught at all. It is restricted to sports and music subjects and because of this discriminated against even more.
It is thriving nonsense to say that a language needs to be protected. Language is a tool like a hammer or a radio. As a mother tongue, it serves most people to formulate thoughts. As a foreign language, it is selected from the point of view of usefulness. That's why even many former English colonies have English, the language of their colonial rulers, as a national official language. For example, look at India or Nigeria with its many official languages. Incidentally, Indians and Nigerians do not necessarily understand their immense linguistic diversity as richness. Imagine the United States having kept the languages of their natives and immigrants as official languages. What a mess!
However, since the mother tongue is so important, it may well be right to support the non-Spanish-speaking minorities in the various regions of Spain with their concerns, even with taxpayers' money. However, it cannot be right for the Spanish-speaking majority to be forced to speak the language of the minority, or even for children to be deprived of the opportunity to be reasonably trained in their mother tongue.
It is also not enough that the Spanish-speaking majority is fobbed off by the fact that they could learn Spanish at home and on the street. To participate in public life and at work you need cognitive academic language proficiency, that you learn in school, through literature, terminology of the sciences in the school subjects, not while playing with your comrades.
We have sent a questionnaire to the parties in Jávea for the upcoming election and will publish the answers in good time. From experience, I fear, the fight for the right to choose the language of instruction by the parents will not be settled with the elections. Either way, we'll have to keep fighting. I am afraid that in Valencia we will soon have to turn to the UN. Absurd.
[1] PLIS = Profesores Libres de Ingeniería Social = Teachers free of social engineering
[2] If the hyperlink does not work, try: http://www.dogv.gva.es/datos/2019/02/28/pdf/2019_1867.pdf