It would be funny, if nothing else, to hear complaints from the leaders of the Popular Party that the issue of Catalan in Europe is being played out as "politics." As if playing politics were something evil, and as if the PP weren't a political party. In fact, it's the most important political party in Spain, despite its inexhaustible history of corruption and spurious misuse of public powers for, well, political ends. They also claim that Catalan doesn't matter to Pedro Sánchez, that he only wants to use it to remain in power: the PP no longer wants power, and that once they have it, they won't hold on at any price (just ask Mazón). More specifically, the PP accuses the Socialists of using Catalan to gain the support of the seven Junts deputies in Congress: it is, precisely, a support that the PP also wants, and that Feijóo has explicitly and publicly requested. The fact that they think they can obtain Junts' support by actively campaigning against the official status of Catalan in Europe shows their level of desperation.
Naturally, it's obvious that Sánchez and the PSOE's sudden interest in Catalan is the result of parliamentary arithmetic and the need for support: but that's precisely how politics is done in a democracy, with agreements between different parties, born from the balance of power emerging from the ballot box. That's how it is, and in an adult conversation, it doesn't make much sense to pretend we're shocked by it or to raise too many questions. It's quite another matter whether everyone in Europe understands what the Spanish government is currently pushing so hard for linguistic diversity, when traditionally it has done nothing but put obstacles in its way, and some member states are being made to believe. Let us note, however, that the objections raised by European interlocutors are of a technical nature (who pays for it, how it is implemented) or internal political (states that have minority languages and do not want to have to recognize them), but never the argument of the supposed irrelevance of minorities, which is what is always used. Let us also note that the main reservations do not come from the large European states, or not only, but mainly from states with languages less spoken than Catalan, such as Finland and Croatia.
Finally, it's hard to understand why the pro-independence camp, which is whining and throwing tantrums, would oppose such an important advance, but they find a way. What's needed is independence, they say, but that seems like it's going to be delayed a bit. What's needed is for Catalan to be spoken in its own country, or territories, or whatever we call it: of course that's the case, but having it be official in the highest spheres helps give it weight and prestige, and that also counts when it comes to gaining speakers. We're not doing with Catalan in Europe like we are with the Congress of Deputies, another step forward of great significance that some underestimate and others squander. These are advances we now have, and until recently, no one would have believed we'd ever have in our lifetime.
