Manifesto in defence of Catalan language in Aragon after regional government eliminates last legal trace

Barcelona (CNA).– The regional Government of Aragon, run by the People's Party (PP), has removed the last legal trace of the Catalan and Aragonese languages in the region. This action has provoked a civil and political movement in defence of both languages spoken by thousands of citizens in the Aragonese Pyrenees and in La Franja (which could be translated as 'the Strip'), a narrow piece of land in the eastern part of the region, bordering Catalonia. Many centuries ago, these lands were part of Catalonia and, until the 1990s, their churches were still ruled by Lleida's Bishop. Since 1999, the Aragonese Cultural Heritage Act has recognised Catalan and Aragonese as “minority languages from Aragon” and as a “specially protected cultural wealth”. However, the regional Parliament, led by the PP and with votes from the Regionalist Aragonese Party (PAR), has now passed a law that ends this protection and the denomination of "Catalan" and "Aragonese". Instead, it replaces the names of these languages by newly-made acronyms. Catalan is from now on officially to be known as 'Lapao', standing for 'Lengua Aragonesa Propia del Area Oriental' (Aragon's Own Language from the Eastern Area) and Aragonese as 'Lapapyp', standing for 'Lengua Aragonesa Propia del Area Pirenaica y Prepirenaica' (Aragon's Own Language from the Pyrenean and Pre-Pyrenean Area).  

The Movement for the Catalan Language in the 'Franja' promoted a Manifesto denouncing the “lamentable situation” of Catalan and Aragonese, languages spoken in the “Franja”, the name given to the Aragonese territories next to the border between Catalonia and Aragon. The Movement is protesting against the removal of the last law that recognised both languages in Aragon by its autonomic Parliament led by the People’s Party (PP) and the Regionalist Aragonese Party (PAR).

This movement is also critical of everyday situations where Catalan and Aragonese are discriminated against, such as when in a school from Aragon the subject “Catalan Language” was called “Oriental Language”. So, the Franja’s Movement for Catalan Language is gathering signatures for its Manifesto so that Catalan has a more dignified status and the Government can implement linguistic policies for its normalisation in schools, institutions and public spaces.      

According to the promoters of the Manifesto, these facts are not coincidental, but rather respond to a “calculated operation of discrediting and negation of the original language of the “Franja”, which is Catalan, and has the objective of pushing Catalan aside in schools and society”. At the moment, several civil and political associations have signed the Manifesto to change this situation.  

A confusing law

The sociolinguist Natxo Sorolla, expert in Catalan and Aragonese language in Aragon, has recently criticised the new law passed by the regional parliament. Sorolla highlights that this reform replaces the terms “Catalan” and “Aragonese” to acronyms referring to “Aragonese languages with its linguistic modalities predominantly used in northern and eastern areas of the Autonomous Community”.

Sorolla warns that the current law could lead to confusion because it does not specify if these “Aragonese languages” are one, two, or more. Furthermore, the sociolinguist also remarks that the new legislation does not recognise Catalan and Aragonese as minority languages, but as “original and historical” on the same level as Spanish, which does not need any protection and promotion.