Aranese language denied ‘positive discrimination’ by Spanish court

In the heart of the Catalan Pyrenees, hidden behind the mountains, lies a quiet and beautiful valley called Val d’Aran and its 9,900 inhabitants. This picturesque valley, in the northwestern corner of the country, is unique for many reasons such as its famous ski resorts, its mountainous villages and its language: Aranese. Spoken by less than 10,000 people, it is a dialect of Occitan, the traditional tongue spoken in Occitania, in southern France.

Yet the tranquility in the valley has been interrupted this week by a Spanish Constitutional Court ruling. The judges in Madrid have banned the preferential use of Aranese in the Val d’Aran administrations, going against a bill passed by the Catalan Parliament in 2011. Seven years after the bill was voted for in the chamber, the court ruled as invalid the provision that gives “preference” to Aranese in local administrations, public media, education and place names. The magistrates also claim that giving more priority to Aranese than to Catalan and Spanish is not in line with the Spanish Constitution, even though most Catalan lawmakers agreed on it in 2011.

Speaking with the Catalan News Agency, an expert and president at the Aranese Language Academy has strongly criticized this decision. “This is dramatic, because it creates an argument to deny the possibility of positive discrimination for our language,” says Jusèp Loís Sans.

Meanwhile, the European Language Equality Network also states that the decision violates international treaties that Spain has ratified. What's more, a Catalan MEP, Ernest Urtasun, has asked the European Comission on the issue. They are all concerned that a remote valley offering natural protection to Aranese from bigger languages for a millennia might not be enough in the 21st century.

Sentence in 2010 against Catalan identity, stepping stone for independence movement growth

The Spanish Constitutional Court also prohibited the preferential use of Catalan in the rest of the country in 2010. It was one of the several elements related to Catalan identity that were eliminated in a controversial change of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, ratified by citizens in a referendum in 2006.