Majority want Catalan in school

Over 78 percent (78.3%) of parents opted for Catalan as the principal language, said union representatives who had carried out the survey at over 100 infant and primary schools. A spokesman furthered that even at private, state assisted schools the preference for Catalan was similar (78.1%).

Those taking part in the survey who didn't make a specific point of choosing either Catalan or Castilian as the language in which they wanted their children to be taught, said they would abide by whatever linguistic policy was in force in the school. However, the union felt that the findings were sufficiently convincing to suggest that the Language Law that has been in force in the Balearics for 25 years, classifying Catalan as the principal regional language, is still popular enough not to warrant segregation of pupils on grounds of a minority wanting to be educated in Castilian Spanish.

The union used their evidence yesterday to demand that the Balearic government should “listen to the people” and not introduce any teaching practices which attempts to uproot Catalan as the “natural language” of the Balearics.

More politically, the union went on to suggest that the government should also withdraw its plans to change the Civil Service Law which currently states that people can only hold a government post if they have a high level of written and spoken Catalan. Castilian-speaking Balearic residents have claimed that the law is discriminatory and that Catalan should not be a pre-requisite for a job.