Simultaneous translation headsets are about to arrive in Congress. The reform of the regulation that endorses the use of co-official languages ??is underway and, if the deadlines are met, deputies will be able to speak in Catalan, Basque or Galician in the investiture debate of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, on the 26th and 27 of this month. The image of their lordships with a translation headset will be the news, the photo of the day, celebrated by some, criticized by others. And, above all, it will be a demonstration of the linguistic diversity of Spain, and an opportunity to normalize what is already the daily reality in many territories of the country.
But a Congress that is expressed in four languages ??entails a logistical challenge. The Board will have to address it once the reform is approved, which is expected to take place in two weeks. Deputies will be able to choose the language in all areas of their parliamentary activity, not only in oral interventions but also in written submissions. It will be necessary to organize a team of translators and interpreters and acquire simultaneous translation equipment for the deputies and journalists covering the sessions.
To prepare the device in record time, Congress has asked the Senate how it has organized its translation system, parliamentary sources explain. For the first plenums, the solution will be transitional.
The Upper House has experience. Since 2005, the regulations have allowed senators to use the co-official languages ??in the commission of the Autonomous Communities, and since 2011 also in the plenary session, only in the debate on motions. The Senate’s team of translators is made up of 25 professionals, who were selected after an examination in 2005. They are not employees, but provide their services externally, depending on needs and availability. For a full session, seven people are called, who are organized to cover all the translation at the time from Catalan, Valencian – which are treated as different languages ??–, Basque and Galician to Spanish, explain Senate sources.
The interpreters work in booths that were installed at the time in the Europa room to cover translation needs at international conferences and other events with attendees from other countries held in the Senate. The room that was set up for foreign languages ??is the one used for the co-official Spanish languages.
For this year, the Senate, on a budget of 64 million, has planned 280,000 euros for the translation service, but the expenditure will be lower, since there has been less activity. For each plenary session – they last two days – the budget is 12,000 euros.
The Upper House has learned to function in four languages ??for years, but the main example of multilingualism is, without a doubt, the European Parliament, since the first session, held in Strasbourg on March 19, 1958. The official languages then they were Dutch, French, German and Italian – those of the founding members – and currently there are 24, since the list has been growing with the incorporation of new states into the European Union.
A meeting in Strasbourg or Brussels requires the work of 72 interpreters, since each language can be translated into 23 more. There are 552 possible combinations. For this reason, the European Parliament has 270 official interpreters and can call on a list of more than 1,500 accredited freelancers. The latter also work for the Commission and the Council and charge around 500 euros per working day, which can be seven hours, spread over morning, afternoon or night.
One of these professionals is Patrícia Lluch, who has worked for the Eurochamber since January 1994. She translates into Spanish from German, English, French, Italian, Swedish and Turkish. “One day the shifts are variable, they are assigned on the eve and there may be changes on the fly. If there are group or commission meetings, it is more stable, but on a full day you can work until midnight”, he points out.
Lluch explains that for a meeting with 24 active languages, three interpreters are required per cabin, in his case the Spanish one. If a deputy speaks in a language that he does not know and that his booth mates do not know either, for example Croatian, he will have to connect to another booth that is translating from that language to another that he does know, for example French, and translate Spanish from that version.
They have it so close that it is very agile, say European Parliament sources. And that any topic can touch them, either in meetings or in plenary sessions or commissions. “When I started working, half an hour before the meeting an usher would bring us a file of the meeting and you would look at what you could. Now, I can consult the documentation and study it. We used to sell a lot”, he states.
To translate written communication, there are 660 official translators and 500 assistants and collaborators. Translating 100 pages of legislation is a 30-day job. A team of 75 legal-linguists verifies the linguistic and legislative quality of the texts throughout their translation process. The legislation must be identical and as clear as possible in all languages ??of the European Union.
