Sánchez's partners are pushing for a law to protect multilingualism without Junts

MadridWhich blog does Juntos en el Congreso de los Diputados (Together in the Congress of Deputies) belong to? The break with the PSOE would place it outside of what is called investiture blogBut a picture from this Wednesday in the Spanish lower house would also disqualify him from a blog that, setting aside its relationship with the Spanish government, carries the tag plurinational"Perhaps they don't want to be part of any blog," a parliamentary source quipped.

ERC, Comuns, Bildu, PNV, BNG, Más por Mallorca, and Compromís have presented an organic law to "guarantee real multilingualism in the State." The goal is for all official languages in the State to be able to "exercise" as such. However, Carles Puigdemont's party was not present in the photo. "We hope they reconsider," ERC deputy Francesc-Marc Álvaro stated at a press conference this Wednesday. Álvaro explained that they had contacted them, but that they had "excluded themselves." "They'll explain why. It would be strange if they didn't join," he noted.

The truth is that if these parties want the law to pass, they need a majority in Congress and, therefore, the votes of the members of the Valencian Parliament, in addition to those of Podemos, Sumar, and the PSOE. In fact, the proponents have spoken with the Socialists because Pedro Sánchez's government is drafting a similar law. "They are open to processing it," Álvaro indicated.

The law was drafted by former Catalan MP Joan Ridao, according to the parties. "It's not a law of principles, but of application," Álvaro argued. All the parties indicated that at a time when the right and far right are "attacking" linguistic rights, consensus is "key." "In the Valencian Community, we have experienced a very serious setback in the possibility of using Valencian since the PP and Vox came to power," recalled Compromís MP Àgueda Micó.

What does the law say?

The central objective of the law is that "any citizen may exercise their right to interact with the judicial branch, constitutional institutions, and the general administration of the State in any of the official languages of the territory, with full legal validity." Measures in the judicial sphere stand out, such as the full validity of judicial documents without translation. Also included is the adaptation of administrative procedures and digital platforms to all official languages; the regulation of language use in areas such as consumer affairs, security, transportation, and audiovisual communication, where a reinforcement of the presence of official languages other than Spanish is proposed; and in the educational sphere, it establishes that the language of each autonomous community will normally be the medium of instruction, with the aim of ensuring that students master both this language and Spanish upon completion of basic education.