The figures for the Catalan government's cuts to the Catalan language

PalmUnder pressure from Vox, Marga Prohens' government has been gradually reducing the presence of Catalan in the public administration. As the Popular Party insists, this has been done surgically. They argue that eliminating the Catalan requirement for healthcare workers and for accessing certain administrative positions responds to the need to fill very difficult-to-fill posts. They also insisted that the concessions to Vox in education have minimal practical effects because the Minimum Standards Decree and the Law on Linguistic Normalization, which prioritize Catalan in education, remain in place. But the fact is that these measures encourage people to speak their own language less and less and Spanish more and more. And the number of affected positions is increasing.

895 healthcare workers without Catalan

These are the new additions to IB-Salut since the requirement was abolished

As soon as Prohens became President of the Balearic Government, she eliminated the Catalan language requirement for accessing positions in the healthcare sector. She did so on August 28th through an emergency decree-law, which was later ratified by the Balearic Parliament. Since then, knowing the local language has become an asset. This measure is included in the pact that Prohens signed with Vox to be invested as President. But, in reality, it bears the signature of the People's Party (PP), because they had already committed to its implementation during the campaign.

The Minister of Health, Manuela García, argued that Catalan, like housing, was a factor that worked against the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in the Balearic Islands. "It's probably not the main deterrent, but it is," she asserted. In a September 2023 interview with ARA Baleares, García asserted that "all healthcare workers" know how to tell patients to "raise your arm" and "stick out your tongue" "without any difficulty." "50% of the professionals who took the competitive exams didn't have the required level of Catalan, but they did have the sensitivity to want to understand the patient," he stated. According to data provided by the Balearic Islands Health Service (IB-Salut), 895 healthcare professionals have joined the workforce since then without the required language proficiency. These include doctors, nurses, and nursing assistants. Orderlies, for whom the requirement will also be reduced or eliminated following the agreement signed this week between the PP and Vox parties, are not considered healthcare personnel. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has been offering introductory Catalan courses for healthcare staff since February 2024. These are voluntary and free classes. According to IB-Salut, 652 healthcare workers have enrolled in these courses since then. What percentage of the total does this represent? According to data released by the Directorate General of Public Service, in 2024 (the last year for which figures are available) there were 14,774 healthcare workers in the public network, 7,206 of whom held permanent positions. In the previous legislature, temporary staff were exempt from presenting their Catalan language certificate, but were given approximately two years to obtain it. Under the current regulations, this requirement has been eliminated. In relation to the total, the 895 healthcare workers who have started working without demonstrating their Catalan proficiency represent approximately 6% of the IB-Salut healthcare workforce. However, this figure will increase as new positions are advertised.

877 teaching positions

The Catalan government allows the elimination of the Catalan language requirement in areas with very limited coverage. The People's Party (PP) and Vox have agreed this week to eliminate the Catalan language requirement for teaching positions in hard-to-fill areas. They will do so through amendments to the law on accelerating strategic projects, in order to comply with the 2025 Budget Pact. How many teachers could obtain a permanent position without knowing Catalan? The Minister of Education, Antoni Vera, responded that the exact number of positions that will be affected next year is unknown. Government sources explain that it will be necessary to determine which positions are affected through an agreement of the Governing Council: "It won't be done with all hard-to-fill positions," they insist. However, as Jaume Cladera reports, this year the department has classified 877 positions as hard-to-fill: 549 in Ibiza, 186 in Formentera, 138 in Menorca, and 4 in Mallorca. At the beginning of the school year, there were 14,177 teachers working in the Balearic public school system. Of these, 644 are temporary teachers who have not demonstrated their Catalan language proficiency but obtained their positions because they were vacant. The difference now is that the Balearic Government is opening the door for hundreds of teachers to become permanent civil servants without knowing the language of instruction in public schools. However, Vera clarified last Tuesday that they will not be able to choose a permanent school until they present their Catalan language qualification, so if they don't, they will rotate schools each year. This decision comes in addition to the Linguistic Segregation Plan that the PP and Vox parties agreed upon in 2024. It allows schools to decide in which language certain subjects are taught. This year, 20 schools, all private-public partnership schools, with a total of 5,800 students, are participating, while last year there were eleven schools with 2,322 students. The two parties also announced this week that the required Catalan grade in high school to obtain the B2 and C1 certificates will be lowered, and students who spend a year abroad will also be allowed to obtain them.

Administration Workers

There are 250 places where the Catalan language requirement will be reduced or eliminated. The Catalan government will also eliminate the Catalan language requirement for public sector jobs in two cases. First, for general services staff who are currently understaffed. According to government sources, this procedure would only be initiated if a job posting is unsuccessful or fails to meet the minimum number of applicants. Second, this exception would only apply to positions that do not involve direct contact with the public. What type of workers could be affected? The same sources report that, at times, it is difficult to recruit architects and other specialized professionals. Furthermore, categories seven and eight of government staff would also be exempt: these are jobs related to maintenance, cleaning, security, and gardening. According to the government, there are approximately 250 workers in these categories out of a total of 750 staff members. Currently, there are also between 40 and 50 vacancies where the requirement could be eliminated.

These measures complement an initiative approved by the Government in May 2025 along the same lines. Through the Capital City Law, the Executive Branch protected 145 tenured employees who had not demonstrated the required level of Catalan to retain their positions. By decree-law, it doubled the deadline for these civil servants to present the qualifications required in the job postings from two to four years. However, after the two additional years, these employees will not lose their positions even if they lack the required language proficiency. The regulations will shift from dismissing them (as stated in the job postings) to simply preventing them from "participating in internal promotion or recruitment procedures, whether ordinary or extraordinary, until the required level of Catalan is achieved."

Linguistic discrimination

The IEB documents 119 complaints of linguistic discrimination

Prohens removed the Directorate General for Linguistic Policy from her organizational chart. She also made no mention, in the decree outlining the powers and basic organizational structure of the ten ministries, of the normalization of Catalan or the promotion and defense of linguistic rights. In this context, she dismantled the Office of Linguistic Rights and pledged to promote Vox's Office for the Guarantee of Linguistic Freedom in its place. Ultimately, the far-right party ended up relinquishing this office, and the Institute of Balearic Studies has assumed the functions of the Office of Linguistic Rights. According to data from this department, 119 complaints of linguistic discrimination have been registered this legislative term, 72.7% fewer than the 437 registered during the previous term. However, Plataforma per la Llengua (Platform for the Language) has documented 235 complaints this term, almost double the government's count. Of these, 105 complaints concerned situations experienced within the administration.