Menorcan entities demand the annulment of the Linguistic Use Regulations of the Consell de Menorca

PalmAcción Cultural de Menorca and Plataforma per la Llengua have presented, in an event open to the public, the allegations to the modification of the Regulation of Linguistic Uses of the Consell Insular de Menorca.

"We are standing up against the language policy against the Catalan language being implemented by the island's highest governing body, with the aim of channeling the discontent they perceive and that is being conveyed to them by a broad sector of Menorcan society regarding the reactionary shift in linguistic matters by the Consell, which is governed by the PP," they stated. "It is for this reason, and out of a sense of responsibility to defend the Catalan language, the language of the territory, that we will submit objections to the Regulations on Linguistic Use of the Island Council of Menorca," they explained.

Both entities believe that this initial approval was granted without justification and is therefore null and void. In this regard, according to the report accompanying the regulations, one of the main motivations for approving the RUL (Regulations for Language Use) is to guarantee citizens' freedom of language choice, but this right is already well-established in the current regulations, the Law on Linguistic Normalization, and the Statute.

They also consider this modification a direct attack on the status of the language as established by the Statute of Autonomy and the Law of Linguistic Normalization, and a process of folklorizing the Catalan language. "It is incongruous that a regulation stemming from the Law of Linguistic Normalization, which stipulates that administrations must create regulations to promote the process of linguistic normalization, goes in the opposite direction: all the modifications are aimed at diminishing the presence of the Catalan language in the administration," they say. Furthermore, they also emphasize that there is a malicious manipulation of the concepts of Menorcan and standard language.

Thus, they point out that the modification represents a break in the political and social consensus on linguistic matters for more than forty years; the contempt for the academic institutions that, according to the law, ensure linguistic quality and regulation (Universitat de les Illes Balears), as well as the entities of social participation, such as the Social Council of the Catalan Language.

Furthermore, the elimination of the monitoring committee, which in the current regulations is made up of both political (from different options) and technical officials, opens the dangerous path of unilateral management in the application of the regulations themselves, neglect of functions when it comes to promoting the application of the standardized use of the language that the regulations seek, and concern.

Finally, both organizations wished to emphasize that Menorcan society remains united around a language and culture shared with over ten million speakers: Catalan. This language has experienced periods of splendor as well as periods of prohibition, persecution, and attack. Currently, within Spain, it is an official language in the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, and Catalonia. However, constant hostility from certain sectors persists, aimed at marginalizing and miniaturizing it, attacking its standardization and unity. Faced with these aggressions, we appeal to linguistic loyalty, the standard attitude of any speaker of a standardized language.

"With the initially approved amendment to the Regulations on Linguistic Use, the Menorca Island Council is taking steps backward in the normalization of the Catalan language and neglecting its duty to consolidate the use of Catalan in all its actions and to promote its use in other institutions, administrations, and public entities in order to achieve a greater presence of Catalan in different spheres." Furthermore, they criticize the Council's desire to introduce a new linguistic model without the advice of the competent bodies. The amendments promote the use of Spanish, bilingual Catalan/Spanish, and make Catalan optional in many articles. "This is a frontal and unacceptable attack against the official status and prestige of our language, to which we are responding with public information campaigns and the submission of formal objections," they state.

Plataforma por la Lengua and Acción Cultural de Menorca invite citizens to use their standard objection forms to submit their comments. Acción Cultural's forms will be available on Facebook and Instagram, and Plataforma por la Lengua's on their own page. Web pageThey remind everyone that the deadline for submissions is February 9th and that the procedure involves submitting a generic application with the supporting arguments attached. However, the organizations indicate that if the Menorca Island Council rejects these arguments, they do not rule out taking legal action.