ENQUESTITIS: THE NUMBERS WAR IN CATALONIA, SPAIN

“It’s a good thing we are all Catholics here,” claimed one Catalan sociolinguist, “or this could be like Bosnia.” In private, and off-the-record, Catalan academics, civil servants, and language planners admit that a quiet conflict is taking place in Catalonia. It involves the expanding use of Catalan in public schools and other arenas, and especially Catalan “immersion” (all Catalan instruction) at the elementary level. The streets and subways of Barcelona, the capital of this “principality,” remains quiet and peaceful, especially by United States standards.^[1] In public, it seems impolite, almost politically incorrect, to speak of “battles,” or even of “ethnolinguistic tension.” The principal political groups from the conservative Partit Popular de Catalunya, to the nationalist Convergència coalition, all state publicly that the linguistic and cultural coexistence is “exemplary” in Catalonia.^[2] Beyond these political postures, the “Battle of Barcelona” (and other cities) is waved principally by four groups: parents of school age children, teachers, groups like the Acción Cultural Miguel de Cervantes (a “pro Castilian” group), and Spanish language mass media. As one Barcelona sociolinguist (who will remain anonymous in this article) told me,

we are being subjected to an increasingly hostile/hysterical period of anti-Catalan smear campaigns in the (mainly Madrid) press and radio. . . . It sounds worryingly like the kinds of campaigns orchestrated in the thirties . . . [before the Spanish Civil War].

In the press, The Madrid daily ABC represents the most virulent “anti-immersion” function; indeed, many of its articles are openly provocative and extremist. In its September 12, 1993 edition, ABC ran a headline that read “Just like [dictator Francisco] Franco, but in reverse” (1). In the accompanying article, they accused the Catalan government of repressing Castilian Spanish, just as Franco squelched Catalan. The Catalan language, Avui, the largest circulation Catalan-language daily, constitutes the opposite pole in the major print media. A staunch defender of Catalanization campaigns, Avui often counters ABC’s statements about overextending Catalan use in the schools, with counterclaims about low levels of Catalan use in all educational institutions.

The Numbers War: Drivers’ Licenses and Daily Use

Accusations of inefficiency, unfairness, and unconstitutional actions in all-Catalan-language schools abound in certain Castilian (Spanish) mass media. The charges and counter-charges are buttressed with statistics. An enquestitis, or ‘survey madness’, has infected both the Castilian- and Catalan-language media. Even the size and importance of the Catalan language is part of the statistics war. For Fèlix Marti, “the territories where this language is used have only ten million inhabitants. . . . Catalan is the language of these territories” (3). For anti-Normalization activist Jose Ignacio Allué, Catalan is “a language spoken by just two or three million people” (qtd. in Riding A-4). No statistic seemed too unimportant for the press to air. Thus, the Diari de Barcelona laments that less than 1.1% of drivers education students opt for the written examination in Catalan (Nin). According to a study by the City of Barcelona, 27% of the interviewees felt “more Catalan than Spanish,” while more than half of these young people felt “more Catalan than their parents” (El Punt). Elsewhere, Catalan President Jordi Pujol claims that eight percent of the population is not “fully in agreement” with these Catalanization policies (qtd. in Singla 52). Few days pass in Catalonia without a new statistical “revelation” about the advance or retreat of Catalan or Castilian Spanish. Each conflicting statistic reflects a diverging view of the situation in Catalonia.

Views of the Catalan Problem Diverging

Opposing sides in the ethnolinguistic battles in Catalonia have a wide array of statistics at their disposal to argue their case in the media. Even the historical aspect of the debate—the degree to which Catalan suffered repression—is a matter that sparks an unexpected amount of disagreement. Professor Gregorio Salvador, who has written extensively about the languages of Spain, claimed that repression of Catalan did not exist “beyond the 1940’s” (qtd. by García 24). Meanwhile, historians Josep María Solé and Joan Villarroya documented 800 acts of repression committed against the Catalan language from 1939 to 1975 (qtd. by Piñol 36). Catalan president Jordi Pujol adds another number: “270 years of persecution [of Catalan]” (qtd. by Tapounet 14). Many critical observers have noticed the shift from “40 years of Franco” to “270 years of repression.” A larger number of years thus justifies a stronger Catalanization policy. As the debate continues about the duration and severity of historical persecution of Catalan, the polemics about which language is currently suffering repression also continue. ABC presents Catalan President Jordi Pujol as a dictator Franco in reverse, and decries the suffering of Castilian-speaking children subjected to Catalan-language schools. The pro-Catalanization forces feel certain that their language is the endangered one, and can provide the numbers to prove it. Furthermore, sociolinguists like Vallverdú demonstrate that the general tendency of “unsupported” minority languages is towards dialectalization and absorbtion. This propensity for “managed language decline,” combined with a high immigrant birth rate (twice that of native Catalan families—another statistic), makes many Catalans justifiably worried. Still, Spanish speakers living in their “own country” see the erosion of individual legal rights. According to Professor Gregorio Salvador, 52% of Catalans are native Castilian speakers, and lose certain advantages by having “forced bilingualism” (qtd. by García 24). While the 50% figure is accepted and repeated by several parties in the policy debate, the number lends itself to diametrically opposed interpretations. For some, it is scandalous that 91% of early elementary school students have classes only in Catalan (ABC, “En 91 por 100 de los colegios” 25), when over 50% of them are castellanoparlantes.^[3] For years, others claim, educators stressed the importance of native-language early instruction (see Pastor for a discussion of early immersion results). Castilian children, according to many, need instruction in their mother tongue. Still, for proponents of Catalan normalization, the over 50% Castilian figure demonstrates that Catalan is an endangered minority language even in Catalonia. The high percentage of Spanish speakers means that Spanish is not threatened in Catalonia, and will withstand Catalan immersion teaching. Each side can quote experts who support their position. Furthermore, the anti-immersion faction can point to protests by numerous parents who “kept their children out of school [to protest] the elimination of Castilian in the schools” (ABC, “Igual que Franco pero al revés” 4). The Catalan edition of this Madrid daily presents the protests by these parents as a major event. Starting in Barcelona, but spreading south (to Tarragona and Salou) and west to Lleida. The Catalan Education minister, Joan Maria Pujals, counters that only five schools experienced protests or complaints about Catalan immersion, out of 1,855 public schools. For Pujals, “the problem is almost non-existent” (Vanguardia, “Pujals: el modelo” 24). Thus, with numbers in hand, each side minimized or maximized the seriousness of the conflict.

How Serious is the Problem?

While Catalan politicians publicly downplay the level of ethnolinguistic tension in Catalonia, and stress the “exemplary coexistence” of the two groups, the situation has become increasingly conflictive in recent months. While my own research (Fall, 1993) indicates that the vast majority of native Castilian speakers learn quickly and adapt well in Catalan immersion primary schools (especially if they begin these schools at age three), those who do not do well express their disapproval openly. Furthermore, it is usually the parents of these students who protest, not the students themselves. The protesters, whether numerous or few, are well financed and well publicized. Newspapers like ABC, along with other print and broadcast media, sound the alarm about “illegal impositions” and “repression.” In private, language planners and sociolinguists admit to some troubling similarities between the atmosphere in Catalonia and that of pre-war Bosnia. In addition to the question of which side has the most convincing statistics about languages, populations, and schools in Catalonia, constitutional and legal issues must be addressed. While Catalan clearly occupies the weaker numerical position in many important categories, the means currently used to improve its situation relative to Castilian may be unconstitutional. The Spanish Supreme Court determines how far the Catalan educational system can go in making Catalan the language of the schools. Knowing Catalan is increasingly viewed as a right, but not an obligation, by Federal Courts. According to one such court (the Tribunal Supremo), immersion is not a legitimate tool if it involves “impositions which are incompatible with human dignity . . . because human rights cannot be measured in statistics” (Brunet 11). Thus, the legal problem may loom larger than the statistics about immersion.

Conclusion

The statistics war in Catalonia resembles a presidential election campaign in the United States in that both sides cite surveys that favor their causes. While the employment rate may have risen during the incumbent’s term, large numbers of new jobs were nevertheless created. If a candidate is behind in the polls, he or she becomes the underdog. If the underdog’s popularity increases, he or she has “the big mo” (momentum) going. Both Castilian Spanish speakers and Catalan natives have claimed underdog status in the Catalan ethnolinguistic conflict. Pro-Castilian groups, aided by some Spanish-language broadcast and print media, have successfully presented themselves as the victims in the battle over immersion in Catalan schools. Meanwhile, the Catalan government points to linguistic policies that have operated, with few conflicts, for many years. Catalan Education Minister Joan Maria Pujals stresses that, out of a school population of 200,000, only 48 parents have complained (Vanguardia “Pujals niega presión . . .” 12).

Despite complains about imposing Catalan in the school system (91% of public elementary schools being all-Catalan, according to ABC, “En 91 por 100 de los colegios” 25), and counter-claims of Castilian domination (60.8% of Barcelona’s population still speaks Castilian as its habitual language, according to Boix 126), such numbers may not ultimately decide the Battle of Barcelona. Statistics about driver’s license tests and how strongly young people identify with Catalonia may give way to more important numbers: figures like fourteen, twenty, and three. Fourteen stands out because part of Article 14 of the Linguistic Normalization Law, (which declares that children must master both Castilian and Catalan) may be struck down. Article Twenty of said law, stating that Catalan will be the “vehicular language” of the schools, may also be found unconstitutional. In the final analysis, three as in Article 3 of the Spanish Constitution, may become the dominant number. In that article, Castilian is declared the official language of the Spanish state. Furthermore, “all Spaniards have a duty to know it and the right to use it.”

Whatever numbers finally dominate in the current battle, observers should expect appeals, proposed changes to the Constitution, and a new round of statistics and counter statistics. Still, if the Battle of Barcelona remains in the courts and the mass media, and out of the streets, that will constitute a victory in itself.

References

ABC. “Igual que Franco pero al revés: Persecución del castellano en Cataluña.” 12 September 1993: 1.

___. “Padres de alumnos denuncian en Barcelona la imposición del Catalan en las aulas.” 16 September 1993: 25.

___. “En 91 por 100 de los colegios públicos de los colegios públicos de las cuatro capitales catalanas los niños entre tres seis años no reciben clase en castellano ni de castellano.” 22 October 1993: 25.

Armor, Esther. “El ‘proceso de normalizacion’ no es una defensa lógica de la lengua catalana sino una agresión a la castellana. ABC 12 September 1993: 68–69.

Boix, Emili. Triar no es trair. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1993.

Brunet, José María. “El Supremo estima que en Cataluña no hay obligación, sino derecho, a conocar el catalán.” La Vanguardia 17 February 1994: 11.

Cambio-16. “Homicidios intencionados.” 19 July 1993: 21.

Domingo, Oriol. “El P. P. Zanja la polémica y constata la inextencia de discriminacion linguística.” La Vanguardia 23 October 1993: 13.

García, F. “El academico. Gregorio Salvador vuelve a cargar contra el bilingüismo el Cataluña.” La Vanguardia 20 August 1991: 24.

Martí, Fèlix. “Editorial.” Catalònia Culture 36 (1994): 3.

Nin, Pere. “Menys de l’l % dels alumnes opta pel català als examens de conduir.” Diari de Barcelona 9 January 1992: 5.

Pastor, Carles. “Los psicolinguistas, a favor de la inmersión.” El País 18 September 1993: 27.

Piñol, Rosa María. “Solé y Villaroya documentan con 800 casos la persecución del catalán por el franquismo.” La Vanguardia 23 November 1993: 36.

El Punt. “Se senten més catalans que els seus pares.” 6 April 1993: 7.

Riding, Alan. “Swords Drawn in Spain Over Teaching in Spanish.” New York Times International 23 November 1993: A-4.

Singla, Carles. “Només un 1% de la població té una actitud hostil a la política de normalització.” Nou Diari 27 July 1993: 52.

Tapounet, Rafael. “Pujol condena la politización de la lengua.” El Periódico 27 July 1993: 14.

Vallverdú, Francesc. “Dues llengues: dues funcions?” Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1993.

La Vanguardia. “Pujals: el modelo lingüístico apoya la cohesión social.” 20 September 1993: 24.

La Vanguardia. “Pujals niega presión del Govern al Constitucional por el catalán.” 20 February 1994: 12.

^[1]Based on information provided by the Spanish magazine Cambio-16, the U.S.A. has 8.0 “intentional homicides” per 100,000 inhabitants, versus 2.0 for Spain (21).

^[2]As conservative Partido Popular leader Vidal Quadras stated “la sociedad catalana vive en una convivencia lingüística ejemplar” (qtd. in Domingo 13).

^[3]My own experience in Barcelona and out-province public schools is that school officials often minimize the amount of Castilian (Spanish) used in schools.