Deputies from the PSOE and Sumar have presented this Wednesday an appeal to the Constitutional Court against the decision of the Government of Marga Prohens to eliminate the requirement of Catalan to access a job in the Balearic public health system. The decree has been presented at the request of the Balearic Cultural Work (OCB), which asked the parties to present this appeal.
The representative of this entity Antoni Llabrés has assured at the doors of the Constitutional Court that the decree approved by the new Balearic Government violates the principles of equality and non-discrimination based on language. He has assured that the prohibition of "arbitrariness" of public powers enshrined in the Constitution and the principle of "non-regression" in matters of linguistic rights are violated.
"It constitutes a setback in the legal status of the Catalan language that is neither reasonable nor proportionate, and contrary to the normalization mandates," Llabrés stated. They also believe that the legal framework for the approval of measures through the figure of the decree law is violated, since the extraordinary and urgent need is not justified. "Citizens of the Balearic Islands will see their right to communicate with the health administration in their preferred language mutilated, if this is Catalan, which represents a violation of the right of linguistic choice included in the Statute," he added.
The new Balearic Government eliminated the requirement to know Catalan in public health through the decree law in the first weeks of Marga Prohens' government. It was one of the 110 points that were included in the agreement signed between PP and Vox to elect the new president, but it also appeared in the program with which the PP presented itself to the elections. In addition to the suppression of the Catalan requirement, the decree that was validated by the Balearic Parliament included economic measures to attract and retain health professionals.
The program agreed upon by PP and Vox also included the need to adopt measures so that the requirement for Catalan does not "penalize" access to public service, but for now the rule has not been modified in this sense, although it is expected changes. The implementation of language choice was also incorporated into all educational stages. The Prohens Government has announced the launch of a pilot program starting next year so that those schools that wish to join can voluntarily join.
The PP-Vox pact also included the creation of an office to ensure linguistic freedom, one of Vox's demands to give its support to the PP government. The Balearic Islands budget for next year reserves an amount of 750,000 euros to launch this office, which will depend on the Balearic Parliament, but will be in the hands of Vox. The far-right party has already presented a first proposal that will be modified from top to bottom due to its major legal inconsistencies.
