10/04/2013 00:00
TW
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By Jason Moore WHILE I welcome the debate over Catalan/Majorcan I think it is a case of shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted. Catalan/Majorcan is the language of politics in the Balearics, all council meetings across the Balearics are in Catalan/Majorcan. All press briefings are in Catalan/Majorcan. If you don´t understand it then you can´t really function in political circles. I was amazed when I attended my first council meeting on the island to discover that it was not in Spanish so I had to learn Catalan/Majorcan pretty quick. Gabriel Cañellas, (in those days of Alianza Popular the forerunner of the Partido Popular) who in those days was Balearic leader introduced legislation which gave the green light to Catalan/Majorcan. The language issue has always divided mainlanders and Majorcans. Mainlanders feel that it should all be in Spanish while the majority of Majorcans support Catalan/Majorcan. Now the problem has been further underlined by the arrival of immigrants from South America who object to their children being taught a little used language in schools. They have found allies in the mainland Spaniards. Meanwhile, Majorcans believe that it is all part of their heritage and culture and needs to be protected and should be spoken by all. Now, what I do object to is subjects such as Maths and Physics being taught in Catalan/Majorcan, (it is hard enough to learn in the first place without having a language barrier. Yes, it is true that Castillian Spanish is talked the world over, the last time I was in New York I noticed the rise in Spanish being spoken and in San Francisco, it is almost vital to speak Spanish. In Britain these days more children are learning Spanish which is great news, because in my day it was French (which is like learning to speak Catalan when you live in Britain!).

Now the present dispute has come about because a group of doctors and nurses don´t think they should have to speak Catalan/Majorcan. All civil servants are required to speak both Spanish and Catalan/Majorcan; this is nothing new either but medical staff were the last on the list. Why has the dispute come about? Well a sizeable percentage of medical staff are from the mainland and South America and obviously they don´t fancy learning to speak a new language, which is quite understandable; but the bottom line from the local authorities is that if you work here you must speak Catalan/Majorcan. My advice is to learn a few words of Catalan/Majorcan. While, Spanish is important a few words in Catalan/Majorcan go a long way as long as you are addressing a Majorcan: a mainlander might taken offence!