It is not up to immigrants to save Catalan.
The Spanish government's announcement of the regularization of 500,000 immigrants prompted an immediate reaction from the Catalan government. It reacted in its usual fashion, with much grandstanding and threats to challenge the measure in court, etc. Everything outlined, point by point, in the talking points sent from the People's Party headquarters on Génova Street in Madrid. But then the spokesperson for the Catalan government, Antoni Costa, wanted to add his own perspective. He stated that he felt the Spanish government was "giving away" residency to immigrants and that more requirements should be added to the regularization process: for example, that immigrants learn Catalan. "Here we have, and I say this clearly, our own language. And those who want to obtain legal residency in Spain, and in this region in particular, must demonstrate a willingness to learn our own language." He said this with dramatic pauses and facial expressions for emphasis. He also asserted that "here we have customs and traditions, and it is those who sell [these things] who must adapt, not the other way around."
All that's missing is for Costa to say that the 'own language' is called Catalan.
It's interesting to note that the spokesperson and economic vice president is aware that the Balearic Islands have their own language. Now all that remains is for him to name it: it's called Catalan. And it's not enough for immigrants to simply "show a willingness" to learn it: in fact, the viability of the Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera as a society depends directly on immigrants learning Catalan and making it their own, understanding that it is the language of social cohesion, the one they need to live fully as a shared language: common among all citizens of the Balearic Islands, regardless of their origin or skin color, allowing us to communicate and share the other elements that make up our shared life. If this isn't done, we will continue the current trend: fragmentation into demographic groups living apart from one another, without any sense of community and with increasingly blurred markers of identity, both in terms of language and the "traditions and customs" the minister spoke of, to the detriment of Catalan and to the benefit of Spanish. Not Urdu, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, or English: but Spanish.
For immigrants to learn and use Catalan, it is essential that those in power give it the value it deserves. This means not cutting back on its teaching, but strengthening it in schools and high schools. It means not removing it as a requirement for public healthcare, but making it the primary and preferred language of all public services. It means not cutting subsidies to organizations that promote it, but increasing them and actively collaborating with these organizations so that immigrants realize that learning Catalan is positive and necessary, and so that they have the greatest possible access. Offering Catalan courses through the IEB (Institute of Basic Education) is a good start, but it's not even enough.
It also means not forming governing coalitions with the ultra-Spanish far right and then cynically lecturing us on national conscience. We shouldn't demand that immigrants save our language; we should demand it of ourselves, starting with our leaders. And if we demand things of those who come from abroad to earn a living here, we should demand them even more, and with greater justification, of wealthy foreigners who settle here to build, speculate, and make easy money.
