87% of northern Catalans want Catalan to be official in France.

BarcelonaThe majority of northern Catalans want more autonomy and more Catalan. This is evident from a survey published by Ifop, the French opinion polling institute, which indicates that 87% of northern Catalans want Catalan to be officially recognized in France. Across France, 77% of citizens are in favor of the recognition of regional languages, a figure that has remained stable since the beginning of the century. Regarding the degree of autonomy, according to the study, in recent years there has been a considerable increase in the number of French people who believe that municipalities, departments, and regions do not have enough power, thus distancing themselves from the country's centralist model, in which power is concentrated in Paris and departments and regions have very limited powers.

In Roussillon, Conflent, Vallespir, Capcir, Fenolleda, and northern Cerdanya, only 24% of respondents believe that the state government takes the region's needs into account. Northern Catalonia is where the feeling of distance from state institutions is highest, to the point that 67% of respondents welcome the fact that some regions have autonomous status. Regarding language, 64% of northern Catalans want Catalan to be a compulsory subject in classrooms.

Right now, in Northern Catalonia you can only learn Catalan in the schools of La Bressola, which this year faced a serious economic situation which led them to cry out for help to avoid closure. Also during this course, The Government relieved the delegate of Perpignan After refusing to use the term "Catalunya Nord" for "institutional neutrality."

68% in favor of greater decentralization

One of the topics where responses vary most compared to a few years ago is when asked about decision-making power beyond state institutions. 68% of French citizens believe that municipalities, departments, and regions should have greater decision-making capacity, while in 2012 only half of those surveyed supported this position.

Regarding the sense of belonging, the number of people who feel they belong to their region first, rather than French, is increasing: from 23% in 2001 to 27% this year. However, what is growing most is the sense of belonging to France: 55% feel French above their affinity with their region or municipality, while in 2001 the figure was 10 points lower. This growth is detrimental to the sense of belonging to the municipality and Europe: in both cases, the percentage has dropped 7 points compared to the beginning of the century.

Corsica is heading towards autonomy

The study was commissioned by the Regions and Peoples in Solidarity movement, a federation of regionalist and autonomist parties in France. The surveys were conducted in July, a few days before The French government announced that it will promote constitutional changes to provide a statute of autonomy in Corsica., a historic demand of the Mediterranean island and supported, according to the study, by 76% of Corsicans.