Linguist decries discrimination against LAPAO in Aragon too

BarcelonaThe Language Act recently passed in Aragon, which seeks to protect and promote the use of the languages spoken in the region and refers to Catalan as LAPAO (1), is ignored precisely when it comes to protecting and promoting the use of Catalan. That’s the claim of a young Catalan man whose appeal was ignored by the DGT (Regional Traffic Board) in Osca (Aragon) because it was written in Catalan, the language spoken in the East of Aragon which the new law allegedly aims to protect.

Occitan philologist Marçal Girbau received a traffic fine dated December 1 and he submitted a written appeal in Catalan on December 18. On March 12 he received a formal reply from the DGT in Osca demanding a translation of his appeal into Spanish. Mr Girbau wrote back asserting his right not to be discriminated against on grounds of language. Finally, on May 5, he received a penalty after the authorities chose to ignore his letter of appeal.

Disregard for the law

Mr Girbau is receiving legal counsel from Fundació Catalunya Fons per la Defensa del Catalans (Catalonia Foundation Fund for the Defence of Catalans), which specialises in this sort of discrimination cases. The Foundation argues that, according to the current laws, it is the administration and not the members of the public who must pay for any relevant documents to be translated. They are certain that, in this instance, the Osca DGT failed to observe regional, Spanish and European linguistic laws.

Mr Girbau decries that “Spain chooses to ignore Aragon’s Language Act, its own laws and, what’s more, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages”. The latter requires all signing countries to accept legal documents written in a regional or minority language. “Spain signed, ratified and formally approved the Charter, but they obviously haven’t read it”, said Mr Girbau.

Possible police abuse

In addition to the language discrimination suffered with his appeal, Mr Girbau claims that the fine came after he was abused by police officers because of a CAT sticker on his car’s number plate (2). While driving through Aragon on the N-230 travelling from Vielha to Lleida, an unmarked Guardia Civil (3) car followed and stopped him. Mr Girbau says the officers’ demeanour towards him was “aggressive, cocky and demeaning” and he is convinced this was for “both ideological and linguistic reasons”.

“I was nervous and mixed Spanish and Occitan words. This is the language I usually speak, as I’ve been living in Toulouse for years”, Mr Girbau explained. The officers then reproached him for “failing to speak Spanish”. When they noticed that his ID was in Catalan, they urged him to learn to “write properly”. They also mentioned the CAT sticker on his number plate. According to the fine, he was pulled over for overtaking another vehicle in a low visibility spot, which Mr Girbau denies, and for having too much snow on the roof of his car, which he also denies.

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(1) The acronym LAPAO stands for Lengua Aragonesa Propia del Área Oriental (Aragonese Language Spoken in the East). This term was recently coined by Aragon’s regional parliament when the Aragon Language Act was passed, in an attempt to avoid using the scientifically recognised term for said language: Catalan. This was yet another attempt by Spain’s institutions to legislate that Catalan is only spoken in Catalonia, whereas the undisputed scientific view of linguists and academics worldwide is that Catalan is also spoken in the Balearics, Valencia, Andorra, southern France and, indeed, Eastern Aragon. It is a well established fact that giving something a new name helps to instill the notion that it is, perhaps, something different indeed.

(2) Spain’s authorities won’t allow Catalan drivers to have a distinct number plate, so some of them choose to put a EU-style blue sticker on theirs. This is known as the “CAT sticker” and it can be bought in shops. There is controversy as to whether it’s actually against the law to have this or not. Every now and then a driver is pulled over by the traffic police and given a fine because of it, but rarely in Catalonia.

(3) Spain’s Guardia Civil is a military police force that, oddly enough, is in charge of general traffic and road safety, among other duties. They wear green uniforms and are an uncommon sight in Catalonia, but not in Aragon, where the driver was stopped.