Today, the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament was once again the scene of a fierce debate in which it analyzed the draft report after the visit last December of nine MEPs to Catalonia to analyze its linguistic model. An analysis in which they ask that the region should give “the same treatment to Spanish and Catalan as languages ??in education.”

The parliamentary commission chaired by the MEP of the Popular Party, Dolors Montserrat, was once again the scene of tensions on behalf of Catalonia, this time due to linguistic immersion. An issue that has been discussed up to three more times in this legislature.

MEPs from the Social Democratic group, the Greens and the Left regretted that they had not been given enough time to analyze the draft text and that it had not been translated into the 24 official languages ??of the Union, but only into English. A discomfort that was added to the fact that the MEPs from these groups precisely refused to participate in the visit to Catalonia because they considered it biased. Between shouts, turns to speak and a tension that was increasing, Dolors Montserrat insisted on moving forward, as he assured that the regulations allowed him, despite the opposition of several members.

“I’m ashamed, those who were not on the mission have no idea what happened,” criticized the Estonian MEP from the liberal group Renew Europe, Jana Toom, coordinator in writing the report. In her text, she has reported “stories of harassment” in schools in Catalonia and in her analysis she will ask the authorities “to take the necessary measures so that all families can feel safe.”

For his part, the MEP of the European People’s Party, the German Peter Jahr, rejected that in Catalonia “there are no teaching hours in Spanish at all, it is necessary that 25% of the teaching hours be in Spanish,” he recalled in reference to the ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia.

For the Vox MEP, Jorge Buxadé, the report is “a confirmation” of what is happening in Catalonia, with information that highlights that there is “signaling in schools, political control of the system, no information to parents, two categories of students and families, violence and lack of collaboration by the educational administration. Come on, a model of linguistic apartheid has been perfectly designed for more than half of the population,” he noted.

Very different were the positions of the Italian MEP of the 5 Star Movement, Maria Angela Danzi, somewhat more critical of the report, and who considers that the court ruling that calls for changing “the entire educational program may increase the level of hostility.”

For her part, the PSOE MEP, Cristina Maestre, rejected the report and the mission. “What I find incomprehensible is that the Petitions commission dominated by the Spanish PP and the Spanish extreme right is telling a member state that it has to do something by interfering with the mandate of the courts of justice on an issue that is exclusively the responsibility of the states. members,” he replied.

The Junts MEP, Toni Comín, also questioned the report in the face of other studies that warn of “a decline in the Catalan language” and that this “will go further.” “You who appear to defend bilingualism, what you really want is for society to be monolingual in Spanish. Immersion is the only guarantee that Catalan maintains its vitality,” he stressed in the direction of the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox parties.

The draft’s conclusions and recommendations are non-binding, and the text is now subject to amendments. It also indicates that families who request additional teaching in Spanish face attitudes that lead to fear of an increase in “hate speech” and, in addition, it is regretted that during their visit the delegation was rebuked.