Go there, go there, go there

Òmnium decided some time ago not to stand idly by in the face of the Spanish courts' attempt to end the Catalan school model.

This model, which educates in the country's own language to prevent the division of Catalan society into separate linguistic communities, enjoys broad social support (over 78%) and political support (over 80% of Parliament members). Furthermore, it is the model that best complies with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, as repeatedly recognized by the Committee of Experts and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

When the High Court of Justice of Catalonia decided to impose 25% Castilian Spanish in schools, in response to the Ministry of Education's appeal against the Generalitat and with the Supreme Court's endorsement in 2021, the more than 60 entities of the Somescola platform organized a massive demonstration with the slogan Now and always, Catalan schools.

Even then, it was clear to Òmnium that citizen mobilization, while essential, was not enough. To defend the Catalan school model with guarantees, it was also necessary to exert political influence, weave broad social consensus, and articulate, with the sectors involved, a shared vision of the school as an essential pillar in the linguistic normalization of Catalan, which is the language that underpins social cohesion. And this is what we have done in recent years.

In 2022, families from the Turó del Drac School in Canet de Mar organized to prevent the TSJC from imposing 25% Spanish in one classroom. It was not the only school suffering judicial interference: dozens of centers were already applying the 25% by court order following individual lawsuits. At Òmnium, we were clear: we had to stand by the families of Canet who wanted to maintain the school's linguistic project, ensure they had a voice in the proceedings, and get involved in their defense.

At Òmnium we decided to fight the legal battle, and go all the way. This meant making Canet a country cases, defend the model from the logic of collective rights and with a view, from the outset, to comparative law and international bodies. We were clear that the Catalan school cannot be defended within the Spanish legal framework, due to the repeated hostility of Spanish courts and governments.

Accompanying the families from Canet, we made our way through the Spanish courts: we appealed to the TSJC, the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Court, and the latter two dismissed it without considering the merits. We could give up or go to international courts. We did not hesitate: we had to go.

We knew that the battle for the model in international instances —and Canet and the European Court of Human Rights is just one chapter of it— was a long battle and that it would not be easy. Because going to Europe against the Spanish state is not a piece of cake and, above all, because linguistic rights are a field still in its early stages of construction: when minoritized languages have a hostile state, they play an unequal game. We knew that this fight, as always when rights are defended, might not be won in the first battle, but we also knew that the most important thing is to fight it.

The ECHR has declared the application inadmissible. But it must be said that it is neither a judgment, nor does it address the merits of the case, nor does it endorse the imposition of 25% Spanish in the entire system. The ECHR has motivated the decision with an exercise in fantastic literature and unfounded considerations that transcribe some fallacies and falsehoods constructed in recent years by the most rancid Spanish nationalism about an alleged prohibition of Spanish in schools, and of which the Spanish judge and ECHR magistrate María Elósegui, with positions close to the far-right, has become a spokesperson. The court's response, and this is relevant, refers to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, but, surprisingly, to dismiss it.

What should be done now? Go, go, and go, always and wherever necessary. Continue building consensus to defend Catalan schools, on the street and in institutions, in educational networks and civil society. And of course in the courts. We know that the Spanish state will continue to be against it. And that is why we have no alternative: if we want to defend ourselves, we must go to the courts and international bodies, at least until we have our own state to represent us. And we must continue to build international alliances, such as those of the European Language Equality Network, of which we are a part, and take the defense of Catalan schools wherever necessary.

We face a key battle to preserve the Catalan school model and to prevent the interference of the courts in classrooms: the country must be ready to defend Catalan in schools in the face of the still pending ruling of the Constitutional Court, to which the TSJC brought the regulations emanating from the Parliament of Catalonia. And we have no doubt: the country will be there. In defense of Catalan schools and the sovereignty of Parliament. Òmnium, as always, too.