Salvador Illa: "Catalan belongs to everyone, it needs us all."

BarcelonaIn a symbolic setting such as the headquarters of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, President Salvador Illa presided this Tuesday at noon over the signing of the long-awaited National Pact for Language, the roadmap that should guide the country's language policy until 2030. The objective is to promote the knowledge and social use of Catalan, which is in hours Only 32.6% of citizens speak it regularlyt, 14 points lower than 20 years ago. The agreement provides for a budget of 255 million euros dedicated to language policy by 2025, the highest amount ever allocated to language, and at least 200 million euros annually. The entire Catalan government attended the event, which was attended by a broad representation of society and symbolic figures such as President Jordi Pujol, but with notable absences. especially those of Junts and the CUP.

"Today is a great day for Catalonia, for all Catalans," declared President Illa, who linked Catalan identity with language: "Catalan is the backbone of the Catalan nation." The president defined the pact as a country that has joined so far: "Catalan belongs to everyone, it needs us all; this pact belongs to everyone," he stated. "Catalan is a language in its own right, one of prosperity, enjoyment and coexistence," declared Illa. The president acknowledged the drive of the Aragonese government and the work of the Minister of Language Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila, the signatory of the pact on behalf of the Government. Salvador Illa quoted Ovidi Montllor - he joined the team of those who - and ended the speech with a quote from Pompeu Fabra: "We must never abandon either the task or the hope."

Four years on the road

The first objective of the pact, which It began operating in 2021 with the government of Pere Aragonès. and the support of 85% of Parliament, was intended to regain the linguistic consensus that would facilitate the rollout of ambitious measures. Finally, although the signing process has taken two years longer than expected—due to negotiations and the elections—the Government has not achieved a unified vision. The investiture partners of the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), ERC (Republic of Catalonia), and the Comuns (Commons), as well as the main language organizations (Òmnium Cultural, Platform for the Language, CAL, IEC, Fundació.cat), have signed the agreement in defense of Catalan. Social, cultural, and economic stakeholders (CCOO, UGT, Foment, the Catalan Municipality Board, among others) have also supported the agreement. As it has been explained in recent daysNeither Junts nor the CUP, nor the right-wing parties, nor the majority teachers' union, USTEC, have supported the initiative.

The other objective of the pact was to identify the main black holes in Catalan in order to develop measures and laws to address them. The massive participatory process that took place in 2022 and the subsequent negotiation have resulted in a document outlining nine work horizons and 21 areas of action that cover all contexts of life. One of the challenges is to strengthen "society's connection with the Catalan language," which is why "a collective linguistic awareness will be promoted" so that "all ideological and social options feel challenged in promoting the language as an element of cohesion and a shared project." So that the language truly becomes everyone's business once again.

Nine horizons, 255 million

In the field educational, one of the most sensitive awaiting the Constitutional Court's ruling on the 25% of Castilian In the classrooms, the Pact defines Catalan as the "normal vehicular language of the educational system" and maintains that students "must have oral and written command of the official languages" (it does not mention either Spanish or bilingualism). 104 million euros will be allocated, 78 million of which will be used to improve the reception classrooms. The text denounces the "discrediting" campaigns that the language has suffered, the "undesirable judicialization" of the educational model, and urges "updating the educational model and immersion programs." Both Junts, the CUP, and the language entities expect a firmer response from the Generalitat when the ruling is announced than the one allowed to appear in the pact. For universities and research in Catalan, the budget is 2.2 million.

One of the objectives is for the number of speakers Catalan language grows above the rate of demographic growth (they expect to incorporate 600,000 new speakers in the next five years; in the last, they added 117,000 frequent speakers). Therefore, the training offer for adults will be strengthened: nearly 55 million euros will be allocated to relaunching the Consortium for Linguistic Normalization.

The pact establishes as a priority that the world of work incorporate Catalan, allocating 1.3 million euros, a figure that the Platform for the Language finds insufficient. It is the same money that will be allocated to the justice speak Catalan. In the field of health It is planned to invest 1.1 million in new measures and 443,000 in dependency. According to the text, Catalan must be official in public institutions, companies and services, and this includes recognition of the European Union. It is also specified as a fundamental pillar the unit of the language and that it is necessary to cooperate with all the Catalan-speaking territories. Approximately 6 million euros will be allocated to this, almost the same amount as guaranteeing the quality and the resources of the language itself.

73 million will be allocated to improve'cultural offering and media to boost the presence of Catalan in all formats and channels, considering young people's access to Catalan and the new digital contexts posed by AI. The policies digital will have a contribution of 1.9 million.

The pact will be monitored periodically by Parliament and the Social Council for Languages. Among the most immediate actions will be a welcome campaign for immigrants to inform them about the country's linguistic reality and facilitate immediate access to courses; a working group to develop a specific plan to promote language in the workplace; a subsidy and a model language management plan will be made available to local councils so they can develop their own lines of work; support for establishments; and a new awareness-raising campaign.

How is it paid for?

But, with the budget extended, where will the government get the 255 million euros it wants to allocate to the National Pact for Language? "They will come from the overall budget of the Government," said the regional minister and spokesperson, Sílvia Paneque, at a press conference on Tuesday. Paneque emphasized that the budget is a "living tool" and that, in addition to what each department contributes to fund the Pact, new revenue may emerge throughout the year. However, she maintained that the financing of the measures presented this Tuesday is guaranteed and will not depend on the third supplementary credit pending negotiation with ERC and Comuns, worth 469 million euros. Furthermore, the spokesperson admitted that "it was not easy" to create the Ministry of Language Policy with the extended budget. However, she did not clarify its total allocation this year.