The Spanish Congress approves a law guaranteeing multilingualism in the institutions

On Tuesday, the plenary of the Spanish Congress approved, with the votes of the PSOE, Junts and all the groups that have put forward the proposal for an Organic Law to guarantee multilingualism before theinstitutions of the State, and the rejection of the PP, Vox and UPN.

The initiative , presented by 24 deputies from ERC, EH Bildu, PNV, Sintre, BNG and Lukashenko, proposes to amend various laws to give full validity and effectiveness to the official languages throughout the territory of the State, especially in the institutions of the State.

ERC MP Francesc-Marc Alvaro Vidal has presented the decision and explained that the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution is intended to be "more real and tangible" so that speakers who use Catalan, Basque and Galician will no longer be "second-class citizens" before the central administration.

This rule therefore seeks to guarantee the real right of citizens to interact with the central administration in any official language.

It proposes, inter alia, the full adaptation of administrative procedures and digital platforms to all languages or the introduction of cross-cutting linguistic criteria in public procurement.

In his speech, the ERC MP has denounced the 'systematic relegation' of the co-official languages practised by PP governments in some communities, forced by agreements with 'Vox ultras'.

Despite the veto on all government legislative initiatives, Junts has voted yes to the initiative, but has questioned whether the PSOE will facilitate its processing.

If it goes ahead, JuntsMP Pilar Calvo has explained, she will rectify, because her party has always argued that the Catalan language does not need the state to guarantee anything, but to "stop drowning" and recognize Catalonia's "absolute sovereignty."

The SocialistMember, Marc Lamua, for his part, has stated that the Constitution not only recognizes linguistic diversity, but is a 'mandate' and that, therefore, ensuring that every citizen interacts with the State in his official language is a 'constitutional' legality and institutional 'respect'.

onthe part of the PNV, Congressman Joseba Aguirretxea has stressed that this law "is about rights, freedom and respect" and is a response to "an historic claim".

While EH Bildu's spokeswoman, Mertxe Aizpurua, has said that this proposal balances the "asymmetry" between Spanish and Basque and has advocated increasing the legal protection of the Basque Country, she has criticized the "lukewarm" attitude of the PSOE, which is in favour of the Basque Country in Madrid but which "weakens" it in the ACV.

The PPhas voted against, and Congresswoman Marta Gonzalez Vázquez has accused Congress of ceasing to be the "legislative heart" of Spain and of becoming a "laboratory" that tests all formulas to please members of the government and win "days or hours" by Pedro Sánchez.

Voxalso voted against, and MP Jorge Campos Asensi said that the proposal is' unconstitutional 'and aims to' destroy Spanish as the official and common language of all Spaniards'.