National Pact for Language

Given the critical situation of the Catalan language, the need to agree on a national pact has been discussed for some time. When the situation worsens, extraordinary measures are urgently needed. And all indicators confirm the regression in all areas of Andrea Gumes's language, despite the Department of Language Policy's attempts to gloss over the poor results of the latest survey on language use.

It's clear that majority languages ​​don't need these pacts, but in the case of Catalan, it's different. With 10 million speakers, it's a medium-sized language, not a minority language, but one that is politically marginalized. And in an increasingly globalized world, where the advance of English is even overwhelming Spanish, a national pact was essential.

By excess or by default, a pact has been approved that only has the support of 68 deputies

With a group of linguists, and at the initiative of Rudolf Ortega, we called for it in 2021 in the book "Most in Favor, " subtitled "57 Proposals and a Pact for Language" (Eumo Editorial). Curiously, at that time, with ERC in the Catalan government, the debate we had revolved around the need to include the PSC in the pact. It seemed obvious to us that Esquerra, Junts, the CUP, and Comuns would be included. But for a national pact to be just that, national, it had to reach two-thirds of the Parliament, and that could only be achieved by including the PSC. "Some demands would have to be lowered," we agreed in our reflections.

And so it has been. The Generalitat, which is now under the ERC and Socialist Party, has drawn up a rather unambitious pact, which has provoked disagreements between Junts and the CUP. Whether by excess or by lack of support, they have ended up approving a pact that only has the support of half the members of Parliament: 68 seats. It is, therefore, a half-national pact. It was born lame, and no matter how much the signatories promise that it will be expanded, we know that these things, once agreed upon, are very difficult to change. It's the glass-half-full-or-half-empty policy. In critical moments like the present, it was important to bring together all possible voices and do so with bold solutions. And that hasn't been the case.

Trying to expand the number of speakers to 600,000 is a significant challenge and, if achieved, a healing one. But as long as non-compliance with current laws continues to go unpunished—that is, while people can operate in Catalonia without knowing Catalan and can work with the public in any field, especially the public, without using Catalan—these are minimum services that should always be guaranteed. I see it as unlikely that anything will be expanded, but at the very least, what has been signed will be fulfilled.