The Balearic PP is struggling to stop Vox's attacks on Catalan.

PalmNever before has the double game played by the Balearic People's Party (PP) been so blatant in the Balearic Parliament: trying to curb Vox's obsession with the Catalan language while simultaneously attempting to retain pro-Spanish voters. This week, the PP voted against Vox's proposed law to marginalize Catalan in schools, sparking outrage among its coalition partners. But in an almost simultaneous move, they submitted their own amendment to the Education Law to introduce Catalan and Spanish as languages of instruction. This tactic reinforces the discourse of Marga Prohens's government in favor of "friendly bilingualism," in the words of one of its opponents. However, in practice, the PP's proposal has no effect: it maintains both the Law on Linguistic Normalization and the Decree of Minimum Standards, which stipulates that at least 50% of classes must be conducted in Catalan.

Prohens's balanced approach to Catalan contrasts sharply with the rhetoric of other male members of the People's Party (PP), such as the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The Balearic Islands' leader avoids creating tension over the language. This is why she distanced herself from Ayuso during the Conference of Presidents in June, when she greeted attendees in Catalan and championed the "richness of the languages of the State." In the Balearic Parliament—unlike the now-resigned president of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón—Prohens maintains her use of Catalan in her interactions with Vox. During negotiations with the far-right party, the regional ministers have drawn a red line against any demands that would infringe upon the linguistic agreements enshrined in the Statute of Autonomy and the Law of Language Normalization.

Since taking office, the Balearic president's obsession has been to avoid repeating the mistake of her predecessor, José Ramón Bauzá. The former president lost his absolute majority in 2015 after massive protests against the implementation of trilingualism in schools. This condemned the People's Party (PP) to an eight-year political wilderness. "We have a type of voter who isn't pro-independence, but is very Mallorcan," a PP source points out. "From the very beginning, our mayors asked us not to give in to Vox."

How does the PP headquarters in Madrid (Génova) receive this position? The First Vice President of the Balearic Government, Antoni Costa, says that "it's understood." "We have our own language and two co-official languages," he said on Friday. "The Government already expressed this position to the leadership at the last Congress."

Half a term walking a tightrope

However, Prohens' dependence on Vox—not only as a partner, but also because of its ever-increasing popularity in the polls—has had consequences. Catalan has suffered setbacks this legislative term. These range from the elimination of the Catalan language requirement for healthcare workers to the lowering of the required level for certain administrative positions. This also includes some gains for the far right in budget negotiations, such as the implementation of language choice in primary education and the promotion of the pilot program for linguistic segregation. "The PP doesn't defend the language," warns a Socialist source. But the truth is that the government has meticulously studied each of these steps to ensure they have limited practical effects, which has frustrated Vox. Thus, the reductions in the Catalan language requirement for the civil service have been surgical, and the segregation plan, which the Catalan government presented as voluntary, has had a meager participation rate: only 19 schools (approximately 4% of the total), all of them private-public partnership schools. To make matters worse, the PP's latest proposal to introduce the use of Catalan and Spanish as languages of instruction in the Education Law "has no practical application." This is according to the mayor of Pollença (PSIB), Martí March, who was the Education Minister who promoted the law in 2022. "It's a cosmetic modification of the articles that the PP is proposing as a political marketing ploy, to save face," he continues. In fact, this point of the text had the support of all groups during the legislative process, but at the last minute it was removed to avoid upsetting MÁS per Mallorca. Vox also denies that the initiative has any real impact. "This masterstroke they've presented is a scam, a deception, and a publicity stunt," Vox's deputy spokesperson, Sergio Rodríguez, told the PP last Tuesday, accusing them of "betrayal."

After two and a half years of back-and-forth with the far right over language, the PP's stand against Vox on the Education Law has marked a turning point. In the corridors of the Balearic Parliament, PP leaders made no secret of their relief. "We've said enough is enough," a source remarked. Could this mean a definitive break with Vox? The same source clarified: "The thing is, we don't know exactly what to break with." Given Vox's erratic shifts, breaking or rebuilding alliances at the regional level at Abascal's behest, the PP is no longer taking anything for granted. "We've been navigating uncharted territory for some time now," a member of Prohens' team noted.