In Aragon “Catalan is not spoken.” This is how forceful the Aragonese president, Jorge Azcón, was last week when defending his Executive's plans to withdraw the recognition of the region's own languages from Aragonese and Catalan. From Brussels, the popular affirmed that the speakers of the Strip, the eastern area of the community that borders Catalonia, do not speak this language, but rather "their own linguistic modalities" that range "from Cheso to Fragatino." Also that they are not going to “normalize” either Aragonese or Catalan, “a language that is spoken in a neighboring community” and that, in their opinion, they want to “impose” on theirs. “If what they ask me is to accept what the independentists want, they are not going to get it,” he asserted.
The political-linguistic controversy is not new. In recent years, each change in regional power has come with a modification in the regulations under its belt. The language law of the PSOE and Chunta Aragonesa (CHA) of 2009, which included Catalan and Aragonese as their own languages, was repealed by the PP-PAR government of Luisa Fernanda Rudi. In its place, they issued another in 2013 that recognized the “Aragonese language of the eastern area” (LAPAO) and the “Aragonese language of the Pyrenean and pre-Pyrenean areas” (LAPAPYP), the seed of a heated political and social dispute that went beyond the autonomous area.
In 2016, it was PSOE-CHA who reformed this rule to grant recognition as their own language to Aragonese and Catalan, a change that the PP-Vox coalition now intends to revoke again. “We are the same as when Rudi arrived,” says Javier Giralt, president of the Aragonese Academy of Language (which has the Instituto de l'Aragonés and the Institut Aragonès del Català), for whom what really “sounds” is the appearance of the term “Catalan” in the standard.
Since its overwhelming victory at the polls in May, the ruling coalition has faithfully followed its program in this area. First, they suppressed the general directorate of Linguistic Policy, whose functions were diluted into the Ministry of the Presidency, Interior and Culture. During the processing of the budgets, an amendment by Vox ended the nominative subsidy of 20,000 euros that the aforementioned Aragonese Academy received.
Now, their plans involve eliminating the express recognition of languages specific to Catalan and Aragonese to make reference instead to the linguistic varieties, among which are Cheso, Patués, Chistabín, Ansotano, Maellano or fragatino, among others. Sources close to the Executive assure that they are working on it, but that it is a “delicate issue” and that “it is still early” to talk about how and when it will be carried out or what practical effects the reform will have.
Currently, it is estimated that between 50,000 and 55,000 people speak Catalan in Aragon and about 90,000 understand it. In addition, its teaching - voluntary within school hours - is provided to some 5,000 students from 30 centers.
In the absence of more details, some parties have already raised their voices against it. From the opposition, CHA called this change “involutionism” and an “attack” on the culture of the land. Aragón Existen also showed its disagreement, which has supported the Executive in specific moments such as budgets. “Creating the terms LAPAO and LAPAPYP to refer to our languages was something that embarrassed many Aragonese. Repeating this situation of inventing acronyms to avoid calling things by their name would mean a new shame,” said its organizational secretary, Raquel Marco.
For their part, the four oldest associations in the promotion and defense of Aragonese and Catalan in Aragon – Rolde de Estudios Aragoneses, Consello d'a Fabla Aragonesa, Institut d'Estudis del Baix Cinca and Associació Cultural del Matarranya – filed a complaint before the Justice (the regional Ombudsman) to point out the “legal lack of protection” that both languages will remain in if their names are deleted. In their opinion, this would infringe “state and international regulations, especially the European Charter of Languages,” they say.
