Cultural figures call for "national agreements" for Catalan culture and language.

BarcelonaA group of cultural figures published a manifesto this Monday calling on the Catalan government and local councils to establish "national agreements" to guarantee the protection and promotion of the Catalan language and culture. The group is made up of linguist and president of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Teresa Cabré; poet Carlos Duarte; cultural manager Jordi Font; filmmaker and president of the Ateneo Barcelonés, Isona Passola; former Minister of Universities, Joan Subirats; sociologist Marina Subirats; and former Minister of Culture, Joan Manuel Tresserras. In the text, the proponents ask the Catalan Parliament to agree on "a national understanding for culture" independent of alternating governments. They also propose a cooperation agreement between the government, local councils, and other political administrations "to join forces in coordinating the system of cultural facilities and services."

The current circumstances of the Catalan language and culture have led to the creation of the manifesto, which was born as a response to the transformation of society compared to decades ago. "There are historical moments with greater cultural emergency than others. In Catalonia, we are experiencing a time of substantial change for its inhabitants, with very strong migration. The Catalan language and culture are marginalized. This emergency makes bridges of understanding more necessary and possible than ever," said Passola. "We must make a collective effort to turn Catalan into a language that reaches everyone," stressed Marina Subirats.

Along these lines, the manifesto proposes developing common objectives to "put culture and language on a par with the challenges posed by the present and the future," to "recognize and incorporate the cultural diversity that exists in society," and to "provide a permanent and effective response to the cultural rights of citizens." The fact that the preliminary draft of the Catalan Cultural Rights Law has been processed has also encouraged the signatories to push the manifesto forward. "The atmosphere created, and the fact that the preliminary processing has achieved broad consensus, opens the possibility of taking a very significant step forward," Tresserras stated.

The group emphasizes, in fact, that it is made up of members of very different political backgrounds with a common vision, and therefore encourages political parties to put aside their ideological differences so that "cultural policies definitively move away from being tools for no one and become tools at the service of the common good." In the coming weeks, the group intends to present the document to the Department of Culture and the various political parties, as well as establish contacts with other administrations to foster understanding.