One of the reasons why Latin America remains linked to the “motherland” is the Spanish language. From the lands conquered by Spain, it is difficult to understand that Spanish, Catalan, Galician and Basque are spoken in the Spanish Chamber of Deputies.
TVE, which is already biased in its editorial line, will now give more space to other languages. Anyone traveling to Spain from South America, motivated by the common language, feels strange given the many advertisements in non-Spanish languages.
Then the Valencian language will come and she adds and goes on. For those of us, descendants of Spaniards, enchanted by this unique, great Spain that is ours, it is difficult to understand these decisions that point to a “multistate,” a divided Spain and separatist regions.
As the press tells us, some Catalans – previously a minority – are loudly demanding economic independence and a ban on Spanish in schools. The Spanish ban also applies in schools in the Basque Country.
As a counterpoint we see a flourishing Madrid and a decadent Barcelona. We see a divided Catalonia with no good reasons to justify its independence. Spain is part of the European Union, which gives it access to enormous advantages even in the midst of mediocre governments.
The forced revival of regional languages only aims to dismember Spain in the future. Given the decisions of the Spanish people, it is timely and sensible for those who advocate multilingualism in the Chamber of Deputies to take into account the side effects – economic, political and cultural – that these measures bring.
How much time and money will they spend on translators, discussions and language interpretation? If we already see a turbulent Spain with difficulties in forming a government, what will it be like with four simultaneous speeches?
The unity of Spain can be seen in the strengthening of Spanish
The unity of Spain can be seen in the strengthening of Spanish, a wonderful language with a growing influence in the world. No one could object to those who want to speak their own regional language from speaking it, but forcing a large majority to listen to the endless interventions in Congress in four languages would be tantamount to overestimating the patience of the Spanish people.
From America, we are pleased to continue to promote Spanish, the language that has created millions of proud Hispanics.
The specific weight of the Kingdom of Spain is losing weight with these decisions that seek the support of minorities for access to power. Spain has already lost influence in America with the emergence of China and Russia. Let the Spanish MEPs understand that “multilingualism” does not make things easier, but on the contrary makes them more complicated.
