The Council of Europe criticises Spain's policy to impose Castilian language

A report by the Council of Europe on the treatment in Spain of regional and minority languages published this Tuesday criticised the country's linguistic policy when it comes to Catalan and say the so-called Wert Law from 2013 harms the immersion system in education. "Central authorities continued to impose Castilian in a wide range of areas", the report says, giving examples including traffic signs, university certificates, sports and advertising.
The report notes that legislation in Catalonia sets "Catalan as the language generally used as a vehicular language and as a language of learning in the education system without neglecting the importance of multilingual education" and that "pupils finish their compulsory studies with a high proficiency in both Catalan and Castilian".
At the same time, it remarks that Spanish national legislation, specifically the 2013 "Wert" Law, nicknamed for the minister who introduced it, challenges the model by stating the "right to receive the teaching of non-linguistic subjects in Castilian only". It says that "the implementation of this law hampers the system of “linguistic conjunction” and immersion."
It adds that Catalan authorities have reported "systematic legal actions" against legislation aiming to "implement Catalan in parallel with Castilian". The report is the fifth from the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on Spain's compliance with the Charter.

As a cultural minority Catalans are victims of a deliberated effort to delete their culture. "In the judiciary, the number of judgments in Catalan is decreasing, from 12.4% in 2013 to 8.4% in 2016 (...) according to representatives of the speakers, the use of Catalan by State administrative authorities continues to be low. Authorities of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia reported on systematic legal actions against Catalan language legislation. Legal instruments of the autonomous community to implement Catalan in parallel with Castilian are challenged in court. Central authorities continued to impose Castilian in a wide range of areas, e.g. traffic signs, university certificates, sports, advertising. NGOs reported on numerous documented cases of discrimination against language users especially by State police. State legislation on labelling, instructions and documentation imposes the use of Castilian by making Catalan only optional. Despite of efforts made by the authorities, deficiencies in terms of language in the health service and elderly care still exist. The Institut Ramon Llull continues to promote the Catalan language and culture abroad."

Among the recommendations for Spain are to modify the relevant legislation to guarantee that the regional and minority languages can be used in the courts if parties involved wish to do so. The second recommendation is to "use the co-official languages in State administration in the Autonomous Communities".

In València, it says that Catalan is in a "worrying situation, especially in State administration and the judiciary". The report adds that "the Law on plurilingual education of 2018 is not in conformity with the ratification instrument since it makes, inter alia, immersion programme models impossible.. It recommends that education in Catalan is guaranteed at all levels, likewise its use in economy and the health and social care systems. In the Balearic Islands, meanwhile, it says "language policy has significantly changed" since 2015. In fact the report denounces that "the mutual reception of Catalan radio and television programmes between the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia is not possible and this is seen as quite problematic by the representatives of the speakers."

Link to the Report.