Language.The independence movement returns to politicize the feast of the Magi
Language: The Three Wise Men from the East spoke Catalan in the Balearic Islands
The
City Council of La Pobla de Vallbona
(Valencia) has organized a Christmas contest for children between three and eight years old in which the main requirement is that they write their letter to the
Three Wise Men
in Valencian.
If they do, they will receive their gifts: a set of educational games in Valencian.
If they write it in Spanish, they will not have a prize. The contest has been denounced by the
Hablamos Español
association
before the
Catalan Ombudsman
for "discrimination against children who
speak
Spanish c
as a mother tongue or preferred language. ”The mayor of the municipality,
Josep Vicent Garcia
, of
You compromise
, defends that it is part of an initiative of the
Valencian Use and Promotion Office
of the municipality and downplays the controversy: «It is part of the campaigns that are carried out periodically to promote the use of Valencian and, as stated in the
Statute of Autonomy
One of our obligations as an administration is to promote a language of special protection such as Valencian ". The first mayor says that children can participate in any language although, yes, if they want to qualify for the gift they must do so in Valencian.
«It is an essential requirement because it is an initiative to promote the language.
It would not make sense otherwise, "he says.
Gloria Lake
, president of Hablemos Español, objects that "there is no alternative contest for those who express themselves better in Spanish" and contextualizes this campaign within a broader linguistic strategy that has been
intensified
in communities with a co-official language.
"Another sample of hispanophobia"
Recently, the
Platform per la Llengua
, for example,
has distributed
in Catalonia a model letter to the Three Kings asking "to be able to play in Catalan".
Meanwhile he
Leioa City Council (Vizcaya)
has used
to the
Olentzero
, the Basque Santa Claus, to scold the children who ask him for gifts in Spanish. Hablemos Español has also denounced the
Menorca Educational Inspection Service
Christmas greeting from the
Official School of Languages of Mahón
, where Catalan, English, French, Italian and German are used but Spanish is excluded. «This is yet another example of Hispanophobia in a teaching center dependent on the
Ministry of Education
.
In this case, the hackneyed argument that it is about fulfilling the mandate to promote Catalan is not plausible, given that other languages are included in the poster, ”the complaint states.
Catalan, "backbone language"
Precisely in the Balearic Islands, the
councilor
of Education,
Marti March
, just submitted a
Law of education
autonomy that does not recognize Spanish as a vehicular language and defines only Catalan as "own language" and "backbone language of teaching".
Spanish is downgraded to "the teaching and learning language of the educational system", at the same rank as foreign languages. They are modifications that are made after the
Celaá Law
has removed the reference to Spanish as the vehicular and official language of the State, a change that minimizes the central government but which, in practice, gives wings so that in communities with a co-official language such as Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community or the Basque Country Spanish is further marginalized.
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