For a while now, the Spanish government has been intensifying its harassment against Catalonia, its language, Catalan, and its culture. This harassment has increased since the People's Party (Partido Popular—PP) got an absolute majority by winning the November 20th 2011 elections. Now, just after the resounding independence march on 11th September 2012, systematic insults and even encouragement of xenophobic attacks have proliferated. This is just a return to the two “Spains”.
We have to remark the Catalan expression “parlar per boca d’ase”, which means repeating all senseless words somebody else has said without even stopping to think about them neither check them—hence the title of this article. This is just what Spanish media is doing: misinform and make other Spanish citizens believe Catalans are unsupportive, unpleasant, and arrogant. Furthermore, Spanish media, politicians, and individuals thoughtlessly spread meaningless lies about Catalonia, its president, the Catalan people, and even worse, about their language and culture. In order to illustrate my words I am going to give some examples based on current events in my professional field, education.
Spain's Minister of Education, José Ignacio Wert is the paradigm of ignorance, and he is ill intentioned. In a recent interview on Madrid's regional TV channel Telemadrid (catering to the most reactionary segments in Spain), he suggested that there is evidence linking the increase of pro-independence feeling in some autonomous regions of Spain with the educational system in place. Therefore, he interprets that the current pro-independence wave has been caused by the sectarian education that students in Catalonia have received, in Catalan, during the last thirty years.
Catalan President, Mr. Artur Mas, on October 3rd, replied to him by saying that it was clear Mr. Wert knows nothing because knowledge has to be something to be proud of. Mr. Mas also reminded him that Catalan students, according to reports bt PISA, have better grades in Spanish language skills than other students who only speak Spanish. Concerning these comments, there is a paper titled Results of linguistic school model inCatalonia. Empirical evidence, presented by sociologist Dr. Miquel Strubell (Open University in Catalonia) at the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC) on June 27th 2012. This paper demonstrates, once again, that the Catalan educational system results in outstanding academic results by using the Catalan language as a base for all learning. Only morons or politicians with a hidden agenda ignore the fact that people need a base language in order to be able to communicate. In Catalonia, with the huge migratory waves of last decades, it has become more necessary than ever that Catalan, which is the original language in the region, take this role, if only as common sense dictates, let alone what linguists suggest. The Catalan educational model is success case, as the declaration presented by the Catalan Society of Pedagogy on October 5th 2011, which gathers and recognizes the scientific, pedagogical and social foundations in order to legitimize the model of linguistic immersion as well as the teaching of Catalan language to all students.
The same minister Wert, and during the same interview, carried on dogmatizing that his educational system reform “does not expect it to become a recentralization, but does erase what is out of focus on the Spanish educational process.” In this direction, he has remarked as a model the case of Finland just for the reason that ”the educational centres have a high autonomy but there is a national curriculum that evaluates students according to very well defined guidelines.”
Nothing is further from reality than this, because in Finland, as everybody knows (except him), the national curriculum only represents a 40% of the total, and in practice, teachers only have a general knowledge about it, because in Finland they have a principle: the educational law has been the same since 1978. The law proposed by Mr. Wert raises concerns not only for the contents it proposes to be taught, but for the training of the teachers. We have to remember that in Spain since 1970 there have been seven different educational laws, including the new one proposed by Mr Wert (which have been changing according to the agenda of the party in government).
Furthermore, Mr Wert looks like he is ignoring the fact that Catalonia approved the Catalan Law of Education (LEC) with a wide consensus at the Catalan Parliament, which emanates from the power given to Catalan Government by the Statute of Autonomy of 2006, which also has the consideration of Spanish Fundamental Law. This Statute, as everybody knows, has systematically been mutilated by Constitutional Court whose legitimacy is more than questionable. Just to finish up his intervention, Minister Wert, as he was asked if Spanish Government is “incapable” of upholding the constitution and to secure that in Catalonia or Balearic Islands children can study in Spanish, answered he is firmly prepared to sort out this matter, adding that it is something going beyond just a high inspection from the State.
“There is no doubt that in this Session this matter will have a practical solution, because the problem is not what the new educational law says, it tells it clearly enough, so everybody has the right of Spanish being lingua franca for education. It is not enough with just individualized attention to understand this right, much more this right has to become effective and I can guarantee we will do it”. By saying this he is stating we will abolish the Catalan Linguistic Normalization Law with absolute impunity.
Following this argument we should remember to Mr Wert that from more than fifty thousand students registered in Catalonia for nursery school for three year old kids (it is at this age when the Spanish Educational system offers free fees – such another incongruity because compulsory school starts at the age of six) only twelve families have applied for Spanish schooling. Otherwise, last year, more than 125.000 families applied for Catalan schooling in Pais Valencia region and their petition was turned off drastically. The only missed detail for “Wert’s cake” is: he says that he will finance private schools in Catalonia to teach Spanish as the only vehicular educational language. Without any comments: he disqualifies himself.
Before we keep going on with those who spark off “parlar per boca d’ase”, we would like to remark that Spanish Conservative Party (Partido Popular - PP), governing with an absolute majority in Spain, it is party that was founded on the bases of the former party “Alianza Popular” (founded by Pro-Franco Minister Fraga Iribarne) and it was founded with the purpose of join together all the conservatives parties and in order to finish with the hegemony of the Labour Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español – PSOE); all these PP currents go from pure Francoism and nationalism heirs (represented by Falange Española), to more radical liberalism, ending with Christian Democrats; all this behind the omnipresent shade of the most fundamentalist Catholicism represented by the Ecclesiastic Curia of Madrid and surroundings. Even today, October 4th 2012, on the weekly magazine “Alfa y Omega” (published by Archbishopric of Madrid) which is issued together with ABC newspaper, it is been denied fromfaith basis – they say – Catalonia’s History as well as its legitimacy as a nation.
PP has always been the most belligerent party against Catalan cause. We have to remember as well that this Party is the one who has made the majority of the appeals for Catalans Laws at the Constitutional Court, or even for Autonomy Statute of 2006. Currently its fight against Catalonia is focused into two fronts: one, the systematic attack and harassment against Catalan language and Catalan culture, violating own competences of Catalan Government – Generalitat de Catalunya (we must remember that the Catalan Statute of Autonomy is a Spanish fundamental law); two, the use of all power means available in order to create an atmosphere of frighten and insecurity among Catalan people. Moreover, we think that Catalan people have said: it is enough!
But not only from the hand of this party, we are able to find attacks to Catalonia, its people and its cultural signs. Leaders from the other majority party, PSOE, lately have also said atrocities which media has been compiling: Joaquín Leguina, Gullermo Sánchez Vara, Javier Solana, and a long etcetera.
Just to finish, let’s point out the latest words, some precious pearls delivered by ineffable Mr Alejo Vidal-Quadras, who active member of the most conservative and fascist wing of PP, and deplorable former Vice-President of European Parliament. It was in a program at Intereconomia channel (which has plenty of fascist and xenophobic ideas in relation with Catalonia and Barça): I do urge Spanish Government to start arranging papers in order to send a General of Guardia Civil’s squad (Spanish police force) just to take over the command of “Mossos d’Esquadra” (Catalan Police force, founded by virtue of Catalan Statue of Autonomy). In the same interview, he was asking for Catalan Autonomy being dissolved and then immediately Spanish Government in Catalonia taking over provisionally Catalan Government. Catalan parties asked for some explanations to Mr Martin Schultz, President of European Parliament, who excused himself by saying Mr Vidal-Quadras was talking in a personal title and it should be Catalan people expressing themselves by voting. Just to end rounding off his “job”, Mr Vidal-Quadras sent a letter to all his “colleagues” (that’s how he says it) of European Parliament in which he was explaining that “the Catalan separatist offensive it nor pacific neither democratic”. I do think that the best answer to his words is watching again the democratic, festive and pacific march of more than 1.5 million Catalans I was talking at the beginning of my report.
All of this just not to talk about the institutional involution Spain is suffering, which becomes clear on the latest statements of the Spanish King or some military Majors (we do know now that they have been holding clandestine meetings) or the constant references done to the immutability of the Spanish Constitution which have arisen as the Unique Law, as the way it used to be under the Fundamentalist Principles of the Movement of Dictator Franco, which assured Spain was a unit of destiny into the universe.
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