Yesterday evening I received the statement of the organization „Hablamos Español“. I agree with the statement almost completely.

I have therefore translated the statement:

Valencian community. assesment PP-VOX pact on the language issue

Gloria Lago. President of Hablamos Español: „At Hablamos Español we will do everything possible to achieve a real regeneration of language policy in the Valencian Community, so that this community becomes an example for the rest of Spain in terms of respect for co-officiality“.

Hope and prudence are the adjectives with which we could qualify our reaction to the measures announced today by the Partido Popular-Vox coalition in the Valencian Community, as far as the language issue is concerned.

We are convinced that Spanish-speaking pupils will see an increase in the presence of Spanish in the classroom. The situation of stifling linguistic nationalism implemented by the outgoing government will from now on be a bad memory. We would also like to welcome the closure of the Office of Linguistic „Rights“, but we must be cautious. It would be unforgivable not to establish a real system of linguistic choice and end up with compulsory bilingualism or trilingualism. The reasons for this caution are as follows:

1. The precedent of Galicia. When the Popular Party came to power in Galicia, although it had promised that there would be a choice of language in education, it implemented a system of trilingualism that we have christened „Timolingualism“, (fraudulent lingualism [Timo=scam]) given that Spanish is only compulsory in primary school, to which Physics and Chemistry and Technology are added in secondary school. Spanish is banned in the education administration, and the promise to empty the classrooms of ideology ended up translating into the most ideologically charged nationalist model in Spain in regional language books. You can check these statements through this link

2. Hablamos Español has carried out tireless work in the Valencian Community since 2018. We have brought families together, we have advised them, we have defended them in court and we have brought to light unique cases of discrimination that have raised public awareness of this problem. We have also set up hundreds of tents throughout the community and organised four demonstrations without the support of the political parties. The Popular Party did, however, favour a demonstration in Orihuela on 18 January 2020. We came to support and chartered buses, but we were stunned to hear the manifesto that was read out. The interpretation given in that manifesto to the expression Freedom of Choice of Language was very similar to the system in place in Galicia. Freedom of Choice of Language is actually a concept that we and the education authorities in all countries with co-official languages interpret in the same way: the other language is studied as a subject, but all subjects are taught in the official language of the parents' choice and all children have the same linguistic rights regardless of where they were born. However, this is what was said in relation to this concept in the Orihuela demonstration, favoured, as we said, by the party that will now be in charge of the Regional Ministry of Education:

For these reasons we are hopeful, but we have to be cautious. At the beginning of this legislature the rules of the Cortes will have to be reformed, and Hablamos Español will defend before the Plenary its proposal of Law of Freedom of Choice of Language, supported by the quadruple of Valencian voters of the legally required number. Some of these signatures are from leaders of the two parties that are going to govern and that came to our tents to show their support and also to take advantage of the pull of the linguistic association that has more implantation and history of work in the Community.

Gloria Lago: „Hablamos Español will do everything possible to achieve a real regeneration of language policy in the Valencian Community and to make this community an example for the rest of Spain in terms of respect for co-officiality. If the regional government is willing to do so, it will count on our help; it will not be easy, as the teachers of Hablamos Español are already warning us about the belligerent attitude of the most ideological sector of the teaching staff, but the arguments based on comparative law and democratic principles are on our side.“