Catalan in schools tests the unity of the parties that supported the law against the 25% restriction.

BarcelonaThe independence movement took to the streets for the Diada with Catalan as the spearheadbut also with the open wound of the ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) that overturned the decree that protected language immersion in the classroom. All pro-independence parties and organizations protested against a resolution that the Government has already announced that it will tour, but it was the president of the ANC, Lluís Llach, who went a step further call to disobey herHowever, this option is not on the table for the Department of Education. And, for now, neither ERC, nor Comuns, nor Junts, the parties that, along with the PSC, endorsed the law in 2022 to protect Catalan in the classroom and combat the judicial imposition of the 25% Spanish language requirement, are lobbying in that direction. However, the response to the TSJC's decision and the Constitutional Court's verdict on this law, pending for months, will put this unity to the test.

In an interview with SER Catalunya this Friday, the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, cut short any speculation about possible disobedience, despite making it clear that the Catalan government will defend the linguistic model of Catalan schools "with all firmness." But what will the government do if the courts force schools to teach more classes in Spanish? "The answer is the decisive action of the Government. The president has already announced that we will apply all measures to protect the model. This is the way forward," the minister assured.

Education sources consulted by ARA did not specify what this will translate into, but insisted that they are working "on the various scenarios" that the Constitutional Court's ruling on the matter may open up. the law that established Catalan as the "vehicular" language and Spanish as the "curricular" languagebut also about the decree law that prohibited percentages in classrooms –and that at the time the PSC did not endorse, unlike what she did in the case of the law. This Friday, Niubó expressed hope that the Constitutional Court would approve her, Although a few months ago the progressive majority was inclined to overturn the decree law (but for formal reasons and not substantive ones, which would not prevent the Government from processing a bill with similar content). However, in the court of guarantees would opt to endorse the law.

Island defends "consensus" with immersion

From Paris, the president of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Salvador Illa, has expressed his willingness to make "minor changes" to the decree struck down by the TSJC (High Court of Justice), pending the Supreme Court's final decision on the dozen annulled articles. For example, those establishing Catalan and Aranese as the vehicular languages and those establishing Catalan as the habitual language of teachers and communications with families. The legal services of the Generalitat (Catalan Government) are still studying the resolution to file an appeal against the decree, which, due to its suspension, was never implemented in schools.

In response to the rhetoric warning of a decline in the social use of Catalan, Illa has denied that the language is experiencing a decline, although at the moment it is only one. language commonly spoken by less than a third of the population"People want to learn languages that are useful and necessary," said the president during a conference in the French capital. There, he defended the "very strong consensus" surrounding immersion in Catalonia—only the PP and Vox have distanced themselves from it—and the importance of encouraging newcomers to learn Catalan.

A national response?

The Catalan government's language-related movements are being closely followed by ERC. In response to Llach's call, Republican sources assert that this is not the time for "proclamations" but rather for "getting work done," and are pressuring the executive branch not to take a single step back in defending the language. "We are not advancing scenarios," these sources say, regarding the possibility of having to resort to disobedience to guarantee immersion. The Comuns party is in the same position, calling for a consensus on a "national response" within the National Pact for Language—which includes ERC and Comuns but not Junts—to address whatever the Constitutional Court decides. "It makes no sense to place judicial criteria over pedagogical criteria. That's why guaranteeing the safety of teachers and the educational community means guaranteeing that immersion has a long life ahead of it," sources from the space point out.

What does Junts think about all this? The party's leadership declined to address ARA's request for a response to the ruling. When the TSJC's ruling was announced, the spokesperson in Parliament, Mònica Sales, asserted that it was a "frontal attack" and "interference" against the Catalan language. "Will they abide by this ruling or defend the language?" Sales asked. In any case, former president Carles Puigdemont confronted X with the leader of the PSC this Friday over the language. Taking advantage of an interview in which Illa said that the meeting in Brussels had made it possible to highlight the differences between them regarding the direction Catalonia should take, Puigdemont stated: "I want a Catalonia in which the government of the country makes Catalan the working and vehicular language in all areas of its competence. Not him."

The CUP does want to disobey.

On the other hand, the CUP (Party of the Unity of Catalonia) does share Llach's call for disobedience. "This is what we have advocated in recent months. We believe that this is the only way to confront the various rulings," emphasize CUP sources. Regarding a possible united action, the assembly-based party warns that it will not join if it is to "whitewash the PSC-PSOE government or the lukewarmness of ERC and Junts" and reiterates that there is only one way forward: "Conflict with the state and its courts: we cannot adapt because the margin we are allowed is ever increasing." In July, moreover, the CUP (Party of the Unity of Catalonia) registered a bill drafted in collaboration with the Platform for the Language, and with the support of PiEC (the Public and Catalan Platform made up of several unions and educational associations), with the aim of preempting the 25% ruling and protecting Catalan as the language of instruction. "It is a proposal of the country and for the country, designed so that all possible actors can join," they affirm. In fact, the Cuperos no longer endorsed the rule that attempted to circumvent the 25% Spanish language requirement in classrooms.

"The country's own language"

With the Constitutional Court's ruling in mind, the government has maintained contacts with civil society organizations in recent months regarding the defense of the language, including in the classroom. Som Escola, which brings together around 40 people, is urging the executive branch to stand alongside civil society when it mobilizes against it if the Constitutional Court overturns the legal framework for immersion. Asked whether the government would attend a demonstration in defense of the language, just as José Montilla's government participated in the mobilizations for the Statute of Autonomy, Niubó ruled out any advances. However, she reiterated that they will always "stand by the language and a model that has worked," and that Catalan is "the language of the country and the education system."