From law to commitment, 40 years of the Linguistic Normalization Law
40 years after the approval of the Law of Linguistic Normalization (LNL), we can affirm that the Catalan language in the Balearic Islands does not suffer from a lack of laws, but from a lack of political will. This is the central idea that emerges when we analyze the path of a tool that, at the time, was essential. That norm established the legal framework necessary to make Catalan official and allowed for undeniable progress in areas such as administration, education, and the media. But, above all, it was born from a unanimous political consensus that today, four decades later, seems almost a miracle. A political consensus that was accompanied by a civic movement, led by the OCB, which demanded a legal framework for the regulation and protection of the Catalan language, which other territories and other languages of the Spanish state already had.
Over time, it has become evident that the difficulty lies not in the law itself, but in how it has been applied. Too often, its implementation has been timid, uneven, or even nonexistent. From the OCB, we insist that the linguistic policy that public institutions must assume is not an option, but an obligation derived from the Statute that cannot be evaded.
The current context further complicates the situation. The economic model based on mass tourism and constant demographic changes have generated enormous pressure on the native language. Without bold linguistic integration policies, Catalan is left unprotected in its own territory. Faced with this reality, proposals exist, such as the 50 measures for linguistic sustainability promoted by the OCB, but the most important thing is missing: the political will to implement them.
To all of this is added a worrying change in the political landscape. The right has been adopting positions increasingly distant from the historical linguistic consensus, which allowed the approval of the LNL, often conditioned by an extreme right that has turned language into an ideological battlefield. The result is a partisan use of Catalan as a bargaining chip, instead of making it an element of cohesion and shared identity between the native population and the influx of newcomers. In this scenario, it is more necessary than ever to rebuild broad consensuses and confront, without complexes, the hate speech that seeks to divide society.
Education is one of the most sensitive fronts. The current linguistic model, which has worked for decades with Catalan as its backbone, has been the subject of recurring attacks; from linguistic segregation plans to attempts at judicialization to impose quotas of Castilian in classrooms. Although these initiatives have not prospered, the real problem is the relaxation in the compliance of linguistic projects in educational centers and the lack of diligence by educational inspection, when it comes to enforcing them. Without control or demand, the model weakens from within.
Finally, debates that seemed overcome are reappearing, such as the denomination of the language. The name Catalan had enjoyed broad social and academic consensus, but today it is once again questioned by sectors that use linguistic secessionism as a political tool, and we already know that more than a real controversy, it is the symptom of a strategy that aims to fragment and weaken it.
In short, the future of Catalan in the Balearic Islands depends not so much on reforming existing laws as on the ability to enforce the ones we already have. Without political will, without resources, and without broad consensus, any legal framework is insufficient.