The Government of the Generalitat has decided to get involved more visibly in the defense of the official status of Catalan in the institutions of the European Union with the launch of an advertising campaign that is based on the pride that citizens feel in their own languages, seeking his complicity of European public opinion for a "historic" demand. The first advertisements of the campaign, translated into the 24 official languages of the EU, have been installed today at the metro stops in the European quarter of Brussels and in the coming days it will be extended to media outlets across the continent as well as public spaces in cities like Paris, Rome, Dublin or Berlin.
The campaign "is a defense and praise of all languages" and the Government "gives away their rights to anyone who wants to use it to defend them," he explained in a statement, four days before the European ministers will once again examine the request. of the Spanish Government to recognize Catalan, Galician and Basque as official languages of the EU. "We want European citizens to be aware of the demand for the official status of Catalan in the EU and to see it positively and with empathy," declared Councilor Meritxell Serret during the presentation of the campaign today in Brussels, at the headquarters of the delegation of the Government before the EU.
Through different posters and videos that will be distributed on social networks, the campaign defends the official status of Catalan based on reasons such as linguistic rights, democratic normality or the need to bring Europe closer to its citizens, but it is also supported by other materials. that the public will be able to 'tune' and use freely to defend their own language. "Have you ever thought how beautiful our language is? That, among thousands of words, just one makes you smile, excites you and transforms you? (...). Defend Spanish, live Spanish, love Spanish ", proposes, for example, the video of the version in this language.
"If all languages are exceptional, let none be an exception in Europe," reads the campaign slogan. Asked about the possibility of it having a different reading than that sought by the Government in some European capitals that fear that, after Catalan and other co-official languages of Spain, other linguistic demands will be put on the EU table, Serret has defended that The campaign's argument places emphasis on placing it at the level of the languages that are already official in community institutions.
"This campaign is aimed at introducing us to what are currently the other languages of the EU institutions" and wants to "respond to the concerns and doubts" that there may be about Catalan. "We have always claimed that Catalan is an official language in the Spanish State, that it is official in Catalonia, in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Country and that it has 10 million speakers", in addition to the fact that it is a "very solid" language. "from an academic point of view and "we have the capacity to respond to the challenge posed by official status at the level of translation and interpretation," explained the counselor. "We are facing a historic opportunity," says Serret.
The Government is "accompanying" at a diplomatic level the work that the central Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Representation of Spain to the EU, with direct negotiations with embassies and consulates, as well as directly with the national authorities of other countries. countries through the Government delegations in Europe. One of the aspects that is most insisted upon in these contacts is to emphasize that "this is not a spontaneous request", but rather that it responds to a historical demand from institutions and society. "Our attitude has been one of maximum ambition" and "we are maintaining the highest demands towards the Spanish Government and towards ourselves" to achieve official status, Serret emphasizes.
The campaign has been developed with the resources of the Foreign Action department, which has agreed to account for its cost when the contracting of advertising space is completed. Both the videos and the graphic material that will be placed in the European press and public spaces on public roads refer the viewer to the europaencatala.eu portal where the arguments are developed in favor of the official status of Catalan, one of the 15 languages with the most speakers. of the EU.
