The Catalan language, and its future in schools is one of the key elements in this pre-campaign for the election in Catalonia. One of the proposals made by the president of the Generalitat and Republican Left (ERC) candidate for the 12th May election, Pere Aragonès, is precisely the creation of a specific ministry for the Catalan language. From the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), Salvador Illa belittled this approach as a "minor electoral thing" while he himself has made public his commitment to trilingualism in Catalan classrooms, to "deactivate the language as a source of partisan and identity conflict", an idea that recalls proposals made by Ciudadanos (Cs) as well as the former People's Party (PP) government under Bauzá in the Balearic Islands. This Wednesday, at the Forum Europa debate platform, Aragonès criticized the positioning of the leader of the Catalan opposition, who is also the candidate leading the polls for the 12th May election.
After acknowledging that changes must be made in the Catalan language immersion model to deal with the delicate moment that Catalan is going through in terms of social use, Aragonès ruled out it can be solved by using "recipes proposed by a party that is at risk of disappearing from Parliament" and has actively campaigned against the language: "The alternative cannot be the prescriptions of Ciudadanos to increase social division in our country". "We need a Catalan president who always defends the language", insisted Aragonès, giving more details about this future language ministry, describing it as part of "transversal politics", similar to what has been carried out from the ministry of equality and feminism. At this event, Aragonès was presented by the former Catalan economy minister Andreu Mas-Colell, who praised his character, and among the audience were a large number of his government ministers and the leadership of the party, headed by Oriol Junqueras.
President Pere Aragonès (ERC): "The immersion model has to be brought up to date, but the alternative cannot be the recipes of Ciudadanos"
In the same line, he also affirmed that the transfer into Catalan hands of the Rodalies rail services, agreed between ERC and the PSOE as part of the Pedro Sánchez investiture deal, could be in danger if the Socialist were elected president of the Generalitat. And glancing at Together for Catalona (Junts), Aragonès reproached them for now calling for pro-independence unity - as Carles Puigdemont put on the table in his first candidature speech - after years of confrontations between the two parties: "It's not a matter of asking for it now, but of practicing it for the last three years."
Nursery education, to be entirely free of charge
With the assertion that he is the candidate, and ERC the party, of the policy proposals - and having already announced the details of his plan for a unique financing proposal for Catalonia, as well as outlining a route to a new agreed independence referendum, this Wednesday Pere Aragonés also put on the table the universality of escoles bressol - the three years of nursery schooling, from ages 0 to 3 - if he is elected president. In 2022, his government already removed all charges from the final nursery year, the I-2 course, and in his speech he expressed his intention to extend this to the entire educational phase: "It is an essential step in order to guarantee equal opportunities", he emphasized. In addition, he highlighted the importance of "fully appreciating" the role of the educators in these centres, who are sometimes looked down on by their colleagues in other educational stages: "They are not just workers who take care of children, but who have an educational role", he asserted.
ERC, "on the side" of the people, and of Catalonia
Meanwhile, with little more than a week to go until the official start of the May 12th election campaign, the parties are starting to present their slogans for 12th May. And ERC's approach has been to update its 2021 line, when the party obtained second place and reached the presidency of the Generalitat through an agreement with the pro-independence parties. If then the party slogan was "On the side of the people", a message present in that campaign marked by the pandemic, this year they have repeated the formula with an added second line: "On the side of the people, on the side of Catalonia". The poster presented this Wednesday features the president of the Generalitat and party candidate Pere Aragonès, surrounded by people of different ages.