Another conflict over language policy in schools has erupted in Catalonia. The region’s highest court has issued a ruling that could change the usual order of teaching. The judges invalidated more than ten articles of a decree regulating language education, which was adopted by the autonomous government’s administration last year. This document was meant to secure the dominant role of the Catalan language in the education system, but its provisions are now under threat.
The response to the verdict was immediate. The new head of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, representing the Socialists, announced his intention to defend the existing model and challenge the court’s decision. He emphasized that he would not allow the language issue to become politicized and promised to take all possible measures to preserve the current order. Meanwhile, opposition parties and civic organizations advocating for bilingualism saw the ruling as a victory in the fight for the rights of students and parents.
The legal action was initiated by the Assembly for a Bilingual School of Catalonia. This organization filed the lawsuit, arguing that the new decree violates basic civil rights. As a result, the court ruled that a number of the decree’s provisions contradict the Spanish Constitution, particularly regarding the exclusion of the Spanish language from the list of teaching languages. Educational institutions will now be unable to ignore the status of Spanish as one of the main languages of instruction.
However, not all provisions of the decree were overturned. The judges upheld regulations concerning the internal organization of schools, signage requirements, and staff qualifications. The main blow targeted articles that restricted the use of Spanish in the educational process and during the admission of new students from other regions of the country.
Previously, the Catalan authorities tried to circumvent the requirement for a minimum share of classes in Spanish, arguing that strict percentage quotas could not be set. However, this is not the first time the court has sided with bilingualism advocates. Last year, similar rulings were issued regarding several schools where Spanish was rarely used as a language of instruction.
Political tensions around the language issue remain high. Representatives of Junts per Catalunya and Esquerra Republicana accuse the socialists of making concessions to Madrid and call for mass mobilization to defend the Catalan language. In response, the opposition insists on the need to reform the system to ensure equal rights for all students, regardless of their native language.
Intervention by the central authorities cannot be ruled out either. Public organizations are demanding that the Spanish government monitor the implementation of the court decision and guarantee that Spanish will not be driven out of the region’s schools. Ahead lie new legal battles and, likely, further changes to the legislation.
