August 2004

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CATALAN / VALENCIAN: THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT’S POLICY CONTRADICTS SEVERAL VALENCIAN HIGHER COURT DECISIONS

August 2004 – The recently-elected Spanish Executive (PSOE) does not seem to have much will to solve the Catalan / Valencian language unity issue. Quite the contrary, like the previous government (PP), it encourages language division and confrontation, which infringes Article 7.1.b of the European Charter for Regional Minority Languages, as denounced by the Observatory of the Catalan Language. Such article states that administrative divisions must not constitute an obstacle to the promotion of the regional or minority language in question. However, the Spanish Government has recently published a summary of the European constitutional treaty in two versions: one in Catalan and one in Valencian, although both texts are nearly identical because the Valencian one follows the normative grammar, the so-called “Normes de Castelló”, according to which Valencian is a dialectal variety of the Catalan language. They are both available in Moncloa’s website. A Moncloa’s spokesperson has declared that the Government does not wish to take a stand on the language polemic and that that is why nowhere it is stated in the text the language it is written in, in spite of the fact that the link to the text makes it quite explicit. The Government just limits itself to “follow the law”, as the Valencian Country’s Statute of Autonomy gives Valencian official status without making clear whether it is a dialect or a language. However, such debate, which has been solved in scientific circles since a long time ago, has also been solved by the Higher Court of Justice of the Valencian Country, as on 9 July it urged the Valencian Government to accept the degree of Catalan filology in the requirements for secondary and primary school teaching positions, therefore recognising that, despite the difference in the names, Catalan is the same as Valencian. In fact, the same court had already stated in four previous decisions (the last one in April this year) that the degree of Catalan filology “widely guarantees” the knowledge of Valencian. For further information, see Mercator-Legislation’s News: March and January 2004 and December and June 2003.