In the arguments about trilingual teaching, the law of symbols and the removal of the requirement for public-sector employees to speak or be proficient in Catalan, something has tended to be lost. It is the Castilian language. It hasn't of course been lost by its defenders, be they in the regional government, in certain organisations (mainly of the right, such as the Circulo Balear) and in the public at large, but the polemic that has raged as a consequence of the government's anti-Catalan policies has tended to portray the Catalan language as the victim and as the principal matter for debate while ignoring the rightful claims of Castilian.
It is worth remembering that Catalan and Castilian are co-official languages in the Balearics and that the 1986 law of "linguistic standardisation" envisaged the co-existence of the two languages in a balanced fashion. But this didn't happen. Though the government at the time was dominated by the Partido Popular (strictly speaking, the Alianza Popular, which was the forerunner to the PP), Catalan was adopted as the language of government. The government of Gabriel Cañellas also introduced a measure to apply to public signs. They would be in Catalan, but Castilian could be used as well for what were referred to as "sociolinguistic circumstances". Even then, Catalan would take preference. In 1990, the then minister for culture, Maria Antònia Munar (her party, the Unió Mallorquina was in coalition with the PP) took this further. She had been instrumental in drafting the measure for public signs, which had included establishing place names in Catalan/Mallorquín only (e.g. Sa Pobla rather than La Puebla), and under a decree of 1990, she succeeded in all but eliminating Castilian from the Balearic administration.
What followed was that Catalan came to dominate, especially in two key sectors of public administration - health and education. So dominant has Catalan become that there was, in May 2009, a sizable demonstration in Palma against the "Catalan imposition"; some 25,000 people took part. So dominant has Catalan become in education that for the 2011-2012 school year, according to government figures, seven out of ten children in state schools received their education in Catalan only.
It is this dominance that the Bauzá government has sought to address. It may have gone about doing so in a far from satisfactory fashion - as with the cack-handed way it has dealt with trilingual teaching - but there were legitimate reasons for it to have addressed the "imposition". Castilian had become an all but non-language.
But there was a world of difference between the public and private sectors. In 2001, the government of Francesc Antich, ostensibly therefore a PSOE administration but beholden to partners on the left and the Unió Mallorquina, introduced a law by which businesses' signs could be shown in both Catalan and Castilian but which also allowed signs to be in Catalan only. It was deemed illegal if signs were only in Castilian.
To what extent this law was really paid any real attention to is questionable. It was observed, by the "El Mundo" newspaper that by 2008, in Palma at any rate, signs and information provided by private businesses tended to be in Castilian rather than Catalan. It is often said, with justification, that Palma is more Castilian than the rest of Mallorca, but nevertheless, these businesses were, in effect, flouting the law. In that year, therefore, Antich's second government reiterated the law that had been passed in 2001. Fines for non-compliance could be as steep as 60,000 euros.
The Bauzá government has now repealed the 2001 law. Businesses will no longer be required to have signs and information in Catalan "at the very least". While this might raise some hackles, the law was hardly ever enforced. And in another move, the government has opened the way to foreign-run businesses to have information in whatever language they want without, or so it would seem, having to use Castilian or Catalan (not that all have been doing so, by any means). The government doesn't seem to be insisting on place names going back to being in Castilian - a suggestion which had been raised early in the current legislature - presumably having reasoned that it would be more trouble than it would be worth.
Scrapping the law is common sense. While it was a futile law in any event, it was a nonsense of one, too. Private businesses should not be dictated to as what language they use. If one is better than the other for a particular business, then so be it. It was a law which showed how far the "imposition" had gone and how far a zeal for Catalan had indeed become an imposition. The Bauzá government may not have always applied common sense in linguistic matters, but on this one, it most definitely has.
Showing posts with label Castilian v. Catalan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Castilian v. Catalan. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Rebel Yell: Mallorca's Catalan civil war
Simón Ballester, known also as Simó Tort, was born in Manacor some time in the first half of the fifteenth century. In the middle of that century, Ballester, supported by, among others, chiefs from Muro and Inca, led an uprising against the governor of Mallorca. The revolt failed, he fled to Menorca but in 1457 was returned to Mallorca and was executed.
Antoni Pastor, the mayor of Manacor, will not anticipate being executed. But he faces a sort of political death, if only a political death within the Partido Popular as it currently is. He is threatened with proceedings against him for going against the party line on language policy and having made himself the leader of internal opposition within the party and the principal defender of Catalan within the party - all against the wishes of President Bauzá.
When Ballester led the uprising in the fifteenth century, it was to Palma that he took his revolt. Together with others from the regions of Mallorca, he was at the head of opposition to an "odious" governor, barricaded in Palma.
The war that has broken out in the PP has more than just the similarity of Manacor being the source of the revolt. It is being styled as a war between Palma and the regions. If President Bauzá and his administration had believed that PP-led town halls would acquiesce to changes to law which will downgrade Catalan, he was clearly very much mistaken.
As with Ballester, who could count on Inca to back him, so Inca has rode to Pastor's side. The town's mayor has expressed a "predisposition" to back him but perhaps more significantly so has Cristòfol Soler, still an Inca politician and formerly, for a brief while in the 1990s, a PP president of the Balearics.
Other towns to declare for Pastor are Pollensa and Sa Pobla. In the case of Sa Pobla, arguably the spiritual centre of Catalan in Mallorca and certainly one of the most radically pro-Catalan towns, mayor Biel Serra is unequivocal in his defence of Catalan.
What is emerging in what is becoming a quite extraordinary story is that Mallorca is being mapped according to where support for Pastor resides. Alcúdia might well follow, if only because Miguel Ramis, an ex-mayor, seems himself to be disposed to go along with Pastor. Though close to Bauzá, Ramis is also a political rival, which largely explains why, in the end, the PP's local secretary-general was overlooked for the job as national tourism secretary-of-state. Ramis does still wield a good deal of power in Alcúdia.
But what you have is two of Mallorca's five large towns, Inca and Manacor, coming together, as they did in the fifteenth century. This leaves Calviá, where Carlos Delgado, the main inspiration behind the attack on Catalan, was mayor, as well as Marratxí, where Bauzá was formerly mayor, and Llucmajor. Each of them is PP-led and each of them is a neighbour of Palma. Were they all to declare for Bauzá, you would have an even more extraordinary situation, that really would look like battle lines being drawn.
To add to the extraordinariness are the allies that Pastor can call on. One is the Obra Cultural Balear. This isn't simply an organisation that defends and promotes Catalan, it is in favour of independence for the Catalan lands, of which Mallorca is one. It is an organisation which can itself call on some perhaps unexpected supporters; former president Soler is a member.
Bauzá, who is being accused of empire-building, wishing to destroy Balearics autonomy and of sheer, naked ambition, has got himself one almighty fight. Spokespeople for the party are making conciliatory and diplomatic noises - the language policy is not a crusade against Catalan, it is open for discussion, there won't be any expulsions from the party - but whether Bauzá is inclined to be quite so conciliatory will become clear very soon.
This latest battle of Mallorca might yet just blow over and prove to have been a passing annoyance for the president to have to deal with. Or it might not blow over, even were there to be some accommodation of the challenges to the law that are coming in from all over the island.
Simón Ballester made at least three attempts to attack Palma and rid the island of its odious governor. He didn't succeed and he paid the ultimate price. From his base in Manacor, the rebel leader of the twenty-first century will be wondering if the time is approaching for civil war and for attempting to tear down the walls of Bauzá's empire.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Antoni Pastor, the mayor of Manacor, will not anticipate being executed. But he faces a sort of political death, if only a political death within the Partido Popular as it currently is. He is threatened with proceedings against him for going against the party line on language policy and having made himself the leader of internal opposition within the party and the principal defender of Catalan within the party - all against the wishes of President Bauzá.
When Ballester led the uprising in the fifteenth century, it was to Palma that he took his revolt. Together with others from the regions of Mallorca, he was at the head of opposition to an "odious" governor, barricaded in Palma.
The war that has broken out in the PP has more than just the similarity of Manacor being the source of the revolt. It is being styled as a war between Palma and the regions. If President Bauzá and his administration had believed that PP-led town halls would acquiesce to changes to law which will downgrade Catalan, he was clearly very much mistaken.
As with Ballester, who could count on Inca to back him, so Inca has rode to Pastor's side. The town's mayor has expressed a "predisposition" to back him but perhaps more significantly so has Cristòfol Soler, still an Inca politician and formerly, for a brief while in the 1990s, a PP president of the Balearics.
Other towns to declare for Pastor are Pollensa and Sa Pobla. In the case of Sa Pobla, arguably the spiritual centre of Catalan in Mallorca and certainly one of the most radically pro-Catalan towns, mayor Biel Serra is unequivocal in his defence of Catalan.
What is emerging in what is becoming a quite extraordinary story is that Mallorca is being mapped according to where support for Pastor resides. Alcúdia might well follow, if only because Miguel Ramis, an ex-mayor, seems himself to be disposed to go along with Pastor. Though close to Bauzá, Ramis is also a political rival, which largely explains why, in the end, the PP's local secretary-general was overlooked for the job as national tourism secretary-of-state. Ramis does still wield a good deal of power in Alcúdia.
But what you have is two of Mallorca's five large towns, Inca and Manacor, coming together, as they did in the fifteenth century. This leaves Calviá, where Carlos Delgado, the main inspiration behind the attack on Catalan, was mayor, as well as Marratxí, where Bauzá was formerly mayor, and Llucmajor. Each of them is PP-led and each of them is a neighbour of Palma. Were they all to declare for Bauzá, you would have an even more extraordinary situation, that really would look like battle lines being drawn.
To add to the extraordinariness are the allies that Pastor can call on. One is the Obra Cultural Balear. This isn't simply an organisation that defends and promotes Catalan, it is in favour of independence for the Catalan lands, of which Mallorca is one. It is an organisation which can itself call on some perhaps unexpected supporters; former president Soler is a member.
Bauzá, who is being accused of empire-building, wishing to destroy Balearics autonomy and of sheer, naked ambition, has got himself one almighty fight. Spokespeople for the party are making conciliatory and diplomatic noises - the language policy is not a crusade against Catalan, it is open for discussion, there won't be any expulsions from the party - but whether Bauzá is inclined to be quite so conciliatory will become clear very soon.
This latest battle of Mallorca might yet just blow over and prove to have been a passing annoyance for the president to have to deal with. Or it might not blow over, even were there to be some accommodation of the challenges to the law that are coming in from all over the island.
Simón Ballester made at least three attempts to attack Palma and rid the island of its odious governor. He didn't succeed and he paid the ultimate price. From his base in Manacor, the rebel leader of the twenty-first century will be wondering if the time is approaching for civil war and for attempting to tear down the walls of Bauzá's empire.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Gloves Off: Dissent in the PP
Not unexpectedly the gloves have come off. The divisions in the Partido Popular in the Balearics have been laid bare by the party's dissenter-in-chief Antoni Pastor. The gathering for a press conference of the mayor of Manacor and leaders from all other parties in the town displayed a most unusual unity of right and left as Pastor led the attack on the linguistic policies of President Bauzá.
It has been coming of course. It's just that it has arrived some eighteen months after the fracture within the party caused by language and attitudes towards regionalism became evident. Pastor insists that his stance, in particular the rejection of the regional government's removal of Catalan speaking as being a pre-requisite for employment in the public sector, is nothing personal and is not aimed at any specific individual. He would say this, though. There are two people at whom this is all aimed: President Bauzá and the architect of the drive to "castellanizar" the Balearics and of anti-regionalism, Carlos Delgado.
On Monday there is to be a meeting in Binissalem of the party's regional directive. Pastor is banking on getting support from important figures within the party, and it is being admitted that the euphoria surrounding the PP's victory at the regional election in May last year has all but evaporated as concern grows regarding Bauzá's leadership.
And leadership could well be the key to the disaffection. If there were to be a leadership challenge to Bauzá, where might it come from? Manacor in all likelihood.
Why, though, is this all coming to the surface now? One reason is that changes to language law run counter to what was once agreed as policy by the PP at a party congress. Delgado, who lost the argument then, is said to be behind a redefinition of the local party's ideology. But why should there be any surprise? It was clear before the regional election that the party was heading in a particular direction, and plenty within the party, including Pastor, were happy enough to stand for election.
To me, none of this comes as a surprise. It was clear in 2010 that there were divisions and that it was simply a matter of time, once the election was won, that they came into the open.
A problem for Pastor and for other dissenters is that there are more important issues that should be concerning the party and therefore the government. Fighting battles over language policy may not sit well with the public who would rather energies were devoted to tackling the economy. There again, the same could be said for Bauzá and Delgado.
The handling of the economy has not been raised by the dissenters, but after some seven months in office, what has Bauzá achieved? Other than to pursue cost-cutting, very little. In terms of stimulating the local economy, the government has put all its eggs into the one basket of tourism law reforms. But, with the obvious exception of the hoteliers, pretty much any organisation that matters, plus the likes of Palma town hall, has voiced objections to the law.
It says something for the democratic process that the law is open to challenges and to suggestions, but it also says something about the draft itself and quite possibly about attitudes towards its architect. It is, after all, Delgado's law. Were the law enjoying something like smooth passage towards being adopted and were there some indication that the government had any other notion as to how to get the economy going, then dissent of a linguistic nature would seem petty.
The lack of economic initiative and the arguments over language notwithstanding, Pastor and those who might support him run a great risk. It is one of being styled as being out of date. Bauzá has himself been styled as conducting an experiment in the Balearics, one that is more in tune with circumstances as they now exist, and one such circumstance is the degree to which regionalism, as it is currently practised, is sustainable.
Furthermore, Bauzá has sought, and largely achieved, a transformation of the PP. He has gone to great lengths to make sure the party is clean and that its image is not tarnished by the corruption of the past. In challenging the new broom, therefore, his opponents run the risk of being associated, even inadvertently, with the past.
Here is the risk for Pastor, therefore. But he obviously considers it a risk worth taking. For Bauzá the stakes are higher. Can he manage to keep his party together?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
It has been coming of course. It's just that it has arrived some eighteen months after the fracture within the party caused by language and attitudes towards regionalism became evident. Pastor insists that his stance, in particular the rejection of the regional government's removal of Catalan speaking as being a pre-requisite for employment in the public sector, is nothing personal and is not aimed at any specific individual. He would say this, though. There are two people at whom this is all aimed: President Bauzá and the architect of the drive to "castellanizar" the Balearics and of anti-regionalism, Carlos Delgado.
On Monday there is to be a meeting in Binissalem of the party's regional directive. Pastor is banking on getting support from important figures within the party, and it is being admitted that the euphoria surrounding the PP's victory at the regional election in May last year has all but evaporated as concern grows regarding Bauzá's leadership.
And leadership could well be the key to the disaffection. If there were to be a leadership challenge to Bauzá, where might it come from? Manacor in all likelihood.
Why, though, is this all coming to the surface now? One reason is that changes to language law run counter to what was once agreed as policy by the PP at a party congress. Delgado, who lost the argument then, is said to be behind a redefinition of the local party's ideology. But why should there be any surprise? It was clear before the regional election that the party was heading in a particular direction, and plenty within the party, including Pastor, were happy enough to stand for election.
To me, none of this comes as a surprise. It was clear in 2010 that there were divisions and that it was simply a matter of time, once the election was won, that they came into the open.
A problem for Pastor and for other dissenters is that there are more important issues that should be concerning the party and therefore the government. Fighting battles over language policy may not sit well with the public who would rather energies were devoted to tackling the economy. There again, the same could be said for Bauzá and Delgado.
The handling of the economy has not been raised by the dissenters, but after some seven months in office, what has Bauzá achieved? Other than to pursue cost-cutting, very little. In terms of stimulating the local economy, the government has put all its eggs into the one basket of tourism law reforms. But, with the obvious exception of the hoteliers, pretty much any organisation that matters, plus the likes of Palma town hall, has voiced objections to the law.
It says something for the democratic process that the law is open to challenges and to suggestions, but it also says something about the draft itself and quite possibly about attitudes towards its architect. It is, after all, Delgado's law. Were the law enjoying something like smooth passage towards being adopted and were there some indication that the government had any other notion as to how to get the economy going, then dissent of a linguistic nature would seem petty.
The lack of economic initiative and the arguments over language notwithstanding, Pastor and those who might support him run a great risk. It is one of being styled as being out of date. Bauzá has himself been styled as conducting an experiment in the Balearics, one that is more in tune with circumstances as they now exist, and one such circumstance is the degree to which regionalism, as it is currently practised, is sustainable.
Furthermore, Bauzá has sought, and largely achieved, a transformation of the PP. He has gone to great lengths to make sure the party is clean and that its image is not tarnished by the corruption of the past. In challenging the new broom, therefore, his opponents run the risk of being associated, even inadvertently, with the past.
Here is the risk for Pastor, therefore. But he obviously considers it a risk worth taking. For Bauzá the stakes are higher. Can he manage to keep his party together?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Palma mayor jeered for speaking Castellano
Palma's mayor Mateo Isern was unable to complete his address at today's Fiesta of the Standard, that celebrates the landing of King Jaume I on Mallorcan soil in 1229, when boos and whistles became too much after he switched from speaking Catalan to Castellano (Castilian Spanish).
The Day Today (Or Another Day)
Here's today's quiz question for you? When is Mallorca Day?
Does today's date give you a clue? Well, yes it does, but there again it doesn't. Mallorca Day is today, according to some, but it is also and officially, 12 September. Confused? You've every right to be, as the great debate as to which day should be Mallorca Day is bound up in the mists of time and in the arguments of claimants to both dates.
12 September, in case you are wondering, celebrates the day, in 1276, when King Jaume II took the oath of the granting of the privilege of the Kingdom of Mallorca. If there is to be a Mallorca Day at all, and there has been only since 1997 when the Council of Mallorca decided that 12 September it was to be, this seems a reasonable enough excuse. You might think so, but others would disagree.
Forty-seven years before the oath, Jaume II's father, Jaume I, the Aragon king who came to the rescue of Mallorca, landed at Santa Ponsa on 31 December on his mission (successful, as it was to prove) to drive the forces of Islam from the island. Mallorca Day, therefore, is not 12 September but unofficially 31 December.
Who says so? Primarily, it is various Catalanists, independentists and left-wingers who say so, and you can chuck in some historians, who may or may not be one or all of these things, as well. Were you minded to go searching for information about Mallorca Day on the internet, you would find a website called diadademallorca.cat, which might suggest that it was the official site for the day, except of course it isn't. The domain suffix of "cat" gives the game away, as it is one used predominantly for sites dedicated to Catalan culture and language.
The website does in fact add a bit more confusion to the debate, as 30 December comes into the equation too, so much so that yesterday there was the "traditional demonstration of the Day of Mallorca" in Palma, one of a series of events that start in the middle of December all in aid of the "fiesta of the standard" (which is in fact today) and the parading of Jaume I's Royal Standard.
These events, in different towns across Mallorca, are all run by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), the most prominent of the organisations on the island that defends and promotes Catalan culture and language. It is not alone, though, in wishing to change the date of Mallorca Day. The PSM Mallorcan socialists, together with their allies in the general left-wing Bloc, have proposed that Palma town hall adopts 31 December as the official date and gets the Council of Mallorca to make the change.
There is, in the PSM's stance, a touch of good old nationalist rival politics at play. The PSM, nationalists with a left persuasion, take issue with the "imposition" of 12 September back in 1997 by the Council of Mallorca whose then president was Maria Antònia Munar, she of the now defunct nationalists with a right persuasion, the Unió Mallorquina.
This might all seem like a pedantic argument, but historical correctness does have a habit of generating dogmatic attitudes, and such dogma can sometimes become unpleasant.
Last year the object of this unpleasantness was the headquarters building of the OCB anti-Christ, the Círculo Balear, the dogmatically anti-Catalan organisation. It was daubed with graffiti and, true to form, it has been again. What particularly riled Catalanist elements was the decision to the Círculo to take part in the Standard celebration on 31 December, a day very much of Catalanist expression. There was also violence at the 30 December demonstration; four "independentists" who were arrested last year had vowed to return this year.
A question worth asking is whether there is a genuine ground swell of nationalism and desire for independence that the argument over Mallorca Day, the demonstration and the graffiti might suggest. Or is it confined to a vocal but active minority (and there were a mere 1500 demonstrators yesterday evening)? One is inclined to believe that it is the latter, but this year's alternative Mallorca Day has to be considered in the context of moves by the Partido Popular government to promote Castilian over Catalan, moves that don't find universal support and not even within the party itself.
Despite the dogma, there is a very good reason why, assuming there should be a Mallorca Day at all, 31 December should be the date. 1229 was in effect when Mallorca's history began, in the sense that its current-day culture started to be shaped. Prior to then, and most significantly, there was no Catalan language. It took the conquest by an Aragonese king to supplant what was then a version of Latin. 1229 and all that asks questions of current-day attitudes on the right. To deny its significance is historically incorrect, but to accept its significance is to undermine arguments against Catalan.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for December 2011
Almond growing, decline in Mallorca's - 6 December 2011
Artisans and authenticity - 9 December 2011
BAFMAs: Mallorcan achievement awards - 15 December 2011
Bars and restaurants to offer other services - 23 December 2011
Campanet, town hall problems in - 5 December 2011
Can Domenech and Can Llobera - 20 December 2011
Castilian and Catalan for town and street names - 29 December 2011
Christmas diary, Leonora Madd's Mallorcan - 25 December 2011, 26 December 2011
Christmas spending - 14 December 2011
Cruise ships and environment - 7 December 2011
Fascinating people in Mallorca - 4 December 2011
French tourism and promotional messages - 17 December 2011
Holiday lets: government gets tough - 3 December 2011
Hotels, modernisation and internet - 11 December 2011
Mallorca Day arguments - 31 December 2011
Mancomunidades, Mallorca's - 30 December 2011
Microsoft and film tourism - 10 December 2011
Oil exploration off the Balearics - 16 December 2011
President Bauzá and party differences - 2 December 2011
PSOE and PP divisions and challenges - 18 December 2011
Rural tourism - 27 December 2011
Sand on beaches, loss of - 28 December 2011
Thomas Cook and African risks - 19 December 2011
Thomson's holiday advert - 1 December 2011
Tourism law reform - 8 December 2011, 13 December 2011
Tourism minister and secretary, new national - 24 December 2011
Tourist tax - 22 December 2011
Trinidad, Mallorca and - 21 December 2011
TV Mallorca, fairs and musicians - 12 December 2011
Does today's date give you a clue? Well, yes it does, but there again it doesn't. Mallorca Day is today, according to some, but it is also and officially, 12 September. Confused? You've every right to be, as the great debate as to which day should be Mallorca Day is bound up in the mists of time and in the arguments of claimants to both dates.
12 September, in case you are wondering, celebrates the day, in 1276, when King Jaume II took the oath of the granting of the privilege of the Kingdom of Mallorca. If there is to be a Mallorca Day at all, and there has been only since 1997 when the Council of Mallorca decided that 12 September it was to be, this seems a reasonable enough excuse. You might think so, but others would disagree.
Forty-seven years before the oath, Jaume II's father, Jaume I, the Aragon king who came to the rescue of Mallorca, landed at Santa Ponsa on 31 December on his mission (successful, as it was to prove) to drive the forces of Islam from the island. Mallorca Day, therefore, is not 12 September but unofficially 31 December.
Who says so? Primarily, it is various Catalanists, independentists and left-wingers who say so, and you can chuck in some historians, who may or may not be one or all of these things, as well. Were you minded to go searching for information about Mallorca Day on the internet, you would find a website called diadademallorca.cat, which might suggest that it was the official site for the day, except of course it isn't. The domain suffix of "cat" gives the game away, as it is one used predominantly for sites dedicated to Catalan culture and language.
The website does in fact add a bit more confusion to the debate, as 30 December comes into the equation too, so much so that yesterday there was the "traditional demonstration of the Day of Mallorca" in Palma, one of a series of events that start in the middle of December all in aid of the "fiesta of the standard" (which is in fact today) and the parading of Jaume I's Royal Standard.
These events, in different towns across Mallorca, are all run by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), the most prominent of the organisations on the island that defends and promotes Catalan culture and language. It is not alone, though, in wishing to change the date of Mallorca Day. The PSM Mallorcan socialists, together with their allies in the general left-wing Bloc, have proposed that Palma town hall adopts 31 December as the official date and gets the Council of Mallorca to make the change.
There is, in the PSM's stance, a touch of good old nationalist rival politics at play. The PSM, nationalists with a left persuasion, take issue with the "imposition" of 12 September back in 1997 by the Council of Mallorca whose then president was Maria Antònia Munar, she of the now defunct nationalists with a right persuasion, the Unió Mallorquina.
This might all seem like a pedantic argument, but historical correctness does have a habit of generating dogmatic attitudes, and such dogma can sometimes become unpleasant.
Last year the object of this unpleasantness was the headquarters building of the OCB anti-Christ, the Círculo Balear, the dogmatically anti-Catalan organisation. It was daubed with graffiti and, true to form, it has been again. What particularly riled Catalanist elements was the decision to the Círculo to take part in the Standard celebration on 31 December, a day very much of Catalanist expression. There was also violence at the 30 December demonstration; four "independentists" who were arrested last year had vowed to return this year.
A question worth asking is whether there is a genuine ground swell of nationalism and desire for independence that the argument over Mallorca Day, the demonstration and the graffiti might suggest. Or is it confined to a vocal but active minority (and there were a mere 1500 demonstrators yesterday evening)? One is inclined to believe that it is the latter, but this year's alternative Mallorca Day has to be considered in the context of moves by the Partido Popular government to promote Castilian over Catalan, moves that don't find universal support and not even within the party itself.
Despite the dogma, there is a very good reason why, assuming there should be a Mallorca Day at all, 31 December should be the date. 1229 was in effect when Mallorca's history began, in the sense that its current-day culture started to be shaped. Prior to then, and most significantly, there was no Catalan language. It took the conquest by an Aragonese king to supplant what was then a version of Latin. 1229 and all that asks questions of current-day attitudes on the right. To deny its significance is historically incorrect, but to accept its significance is to undermine arguments against Catalan.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for December 2011
Almond growing, decline in Mallorca's - 6 December 2011
Artisans and authenticity - 9 December 2011
BAFMAs: Mallorcan achievement awards - 15 December 2011
Bars and restaurants to offer other services - 23 December 2011
Campanet, town hall problems in - 5 December 2011
Can Domenech and Can Llobera - 20 December 2011
Castilian and Catalan for town and street names - 29 December 2011
Christmas diary, Leonora Madd's Mallorcan - 25 December 2011, 26 December 2011
Christmas spending - 14 December 2011
Cruise ships and environment - 7 December 2011
Fascinating people in Mallorca - 4 December 2011
French tourism and promotional messages - 17 December 2011
Holiday lets: government gets tough - 3 December 2011
Hotels, modernisation and internet - 11 December 2011
Mallorca Day arguments - 31 December 2011
Mancomunidades, Mallorca's - 30 December 2011
Microsoft and film tourism - 10 December 2011
Oil exploration off the Balearics - 16 December 2011
President Bauzá and party differences - 2 December 2011
PSOE and PP divisions and challenges - 18 December 2011
Rural tourism - 27 December 2011
Sand on beaches, loss of - 28 December 2011
Thomas Cook and African risks - 19 December 2011
Thomson's holiday advert - 1 December 2011
Tourism law reform - 8 December 2011, 13 December 2011
Tourism minister and secretary, new national - 24 December 2011
Tourist tax - 22 December 2011
Trinidad, Mallorca and - 21 December 2011
TV Mallorca, fairs and musicians - 12 December 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Language law sparks off opposition
The Balearic Government's proposals for reforming the language law, which would elevate the role of Castilian at the expense of Catalan, have been met with opposition in different quarters. The PP mayor of Manacor, Antoni Pastor, a fierce critic of the proposals, says that there are many others within the PP who feel as he does but are not willing as yet to say so. Santa Margalida town hall has reacted by saying that a new councillor position for language policy will be created, expressly to combat government proposals. The government, meanwhile, is saying that changes to town and street names will not be obligatory but that it will be up to individual town halls to decide. More recipe for confusion therefore?
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Naked Ambition: Carlos Delgado
You can't blame a man for harbouring ambitions. But there is understated ambition and there is naked ambition. In the case of Carlos Delgado, he has stripped himself bare and exposed himself as unashamedly as a naturist strutting along the water's edge at Es Trenc beach.
Delgado, the retiring mayor of Calvia, is not normally the retiring sort. He will vacate the mayoral throne this spring and, following a period of ominous silence, is making his intentions loud and clear. And by doing so, he brings to a head and into full public, voyeuristic glare the divisions within the Partido Popular.
Delgado has announced that in a PP administration he wants to be either tourism or education minister. Either, for differing reasons, would be the nuclear option. He knows it, and so does everyone else. Tourism is the most important ministerial appointment, while education is the most politically loaded.
Why does Delgado appear to be so confident that he might land either of these positions? That he is widely perceived to be the real power in the party behind José Bauzá may have something to do with it. His relative silence and absence over the past few months seemed to start when the suggestion of his power began to be given an airing.
Even such reticence, though, can reinforce an image of behind-the-scenes scheming; silence can be golden when it is tactical treasure. The reason for my dubbing him Grytpype-Thynne is only partly because Delgado means thin; another is because, like Peter Sellers' Goons character, he is seen as something of the villain of the piece.
But it is for this reason that Delgado is arguably the most interesting politician in Mallorca. He conveys an impression of being the genuine political-animal article. His ability to appear divisive says much for his lack of equivocation. You know what you're going to get with Delgado, or at least you think you do. The trouble is that many would rather not get it, including many in his own party.
Delgado was trounced in the run-off against Bauzá for the party leadership. It was a snub of the anyone-but-Delgado variety. Yet, despite the pair's rivalry, it soon emerged that Bauzá was moving closer to Delgado and to his philosophies. It was this shift to the right that started the ruptures which continue in the Partido Popular in the Balearics.
Delgado has never hidden the fact that he believes in the primacy of the Castilian language. When Bauzá said much the same, here was just one example, latched onto and claimed by his opponents, of Delgado's influence. It is this streak of anti-Catalanism that would turn his appointment as education minister into more than just a political hot potato; it would be a three-course meal with brandy and cigars to follow and indigestible for almost every other political party in Mallorca as well as those to the left within the PP.
The Catalan question is the local PP's Europe question. It is one that carries less weight with the electorate than the obsession with it suggests, but the prominence given to it, and wrapped up in the further question of regionalism, is of a conservatism which, rather than seeking to conserve social, political and cultural subsidiarity (of Catalanism), openly rejects it in favour of the sovereignty of the Spanish state and Castilian.
Tourism is a different matter entirely. It is far less political and far more an issue of industrial and economic strategy. In February last year, prior to the election for the PP leadership, Delgado made his opinions plain enough. He favoured the prioritisation of tourism legislation over that for land. He advocated changes to allow for the establishment of condohotels. He called for the creation of theme parks and sports centres aimed at reducing the impact of seasonality. His party has said that it will press for changes to IVA, so as to reduce its burden on the tourism industry. All of this, you would think, would make him the darling of the tourism industry and of the hoteliers. You would be wrong. The hoteliers have made it clear that they don't want him.
For such opposition to be stated is extraordinary. The hoteliers, when faced, as they have been over the past four years, with regular, new tourism ministers, have always uttered the same diplomatic mantra - that so-and-so will be good for the industry, even if they haven't meant it. They haven't waited this time. Theirs is a pre-emptive strike to seek to deny Delgado one of his ambitions. But why?
As Delgado has said much that should be music to the hoteliers' ears, their rejection of him seems surprising. But perhaps it isn't. Perhaps they don't much care for naked ambition. Perhaps they don't much care for him; he is far from being universally popular. Perhaps they fear that he might ruffle some feathers. Whatever the reason, Bauzá surely cannot ignore the industry's objections. If he acknowledges them, then that leaves education.
Bauzá has himself become divisive in a way that does not bode well for what should be within his grasp, the presidency of the Balearics. If he bows to Delgado's ambition for education, the divisions are likely to widen. But then who actually makes the decisions and who actually wields the power?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Delgado, the retiring mayor of Calvia, is not normally the retiring sort. He will vacate the mayoral throne this spring and, following a period of ominous silence, is making his intentions loud and clear. And by doing so, he brings to a head and into full public, voyeuristic glare the divisions within the Partido Popular.
Delgado has announced that in a PP administration he wants to be either tourism or education minister. Either, for differing reasons, would be the nuclear option. He knows it, and so does everyone else. Tourism is the most important ministerial appointment, while education is the most politically loaded.
Why does Delgado appear to be so confident that he might land either of these positions? That he is widely perceived to be the real power in the party behind José Bauzá may have something to do with it. His relative silence and absence over the past few months seemed to start when the suggestion of his power began to be given an airing.
Even such reticence, though, can reinforce an image of behind-the-scenes scheming; silence can be golden when it is tactical treasure. The reason for my dubbing him Grytpype-Thynne is only partly because Delgado means thin; another is because, like Peter Sellers' Goons character, he is seen as something of the villain of the piece.
But it is for this reason that Delgado is arguably the most interesting politician in Mallorca. He conveys an impression of being the genuine political-animal article. His ability to appear divisive says much for his lack of equivocation. You know what you're going to get with Delgado, or at least you think you do. The trouble is that many would rather not get it, including many in his own party.
Delgado was trounced in the run-off against Bauzá for the party leadership. It was a snub of the anyone-but-Delgado variety. Yet, despite the pair's rivalry, it soon emerged that Bauzá was moving closer to Delgado and to his philosophies. It was this shift to the right that started the ruptures which continue in the Partido Popular in the Balearics.
Delgado has never hidden the fact that he believes in the primacy of the Castilian language. When Bauzá said much the same, here was just one example, latched onto and claimed by his opponents, of Delgado's influence. It is this streak of anti-Catalanism that would turn his appointment as education minister into more than just a political hot potato; it would be a three-course meal with brandy and cigars to follow and indigestible for almost every other political party in Mallorca as well as those to the left within the PP.
The Catalan question is the local PP's Europe question. It is one that carries less weight with the electorate than the obsession with it suggests, but the prominence given to it, and wrapped up in the further question of regionalism, is of a conservatism which, rather than seeking to conserve social, political and cultural subsidiarity (of Catalanism), openly rejects it in favour of the sovereignty of the Spanish state and Castilian.
Tourism is a different matter entirely. It is far less political and far more an issue of industrial and economic strategy. In February last year, prior to the election for the PP leadership, Delgado made his opinions plain enough. He favoured the prioritisation of tourism legislation over that for land. He advocated changes to allow for the establishment of condohotels. He called for the creation of theme parks and sports centres aimed at reducing the impact of seasonality. His party has said that it will press for changes to IVA, so as to reduce its burden on the tourism industry. All of this, you would think, would make him the darling of the tourism industry and of the hoteliers. You would be wrong. The hoteliers have made it clear that they don't want him.
For such opposition to be stated is extraordinary. The hoteliers, when faced, as they have been over the past four years, with regular, new tourism ministers, have always uttered the same diplomatic mantra - that so-and-so will be good for the industry, even if they haven't meant it. They haven't waited this time. Theirs is a pre-emptive strike to seek to deny Delgado one of his ambitions. But why?
As Delgado has said much that should be music to the hoteliers' ears, their rejection of him seems surprising. But perhaps it isn't. Perhaps they don't much care for naked ambition. Perhaps they don't much care for him; he is far from being universally popular. Perhaps they fear that he might ruffle some feathers. Whatever the reason, Bauzá surely cannot ignore the industry's objections. If he acknowledges them, then that leaves education.
Bauzá has himself become divisive in a way that does not bode well for what should be within his grasp, the presidency of the Balearics. If he bows to Delgado's ambition for education, the divisions are likely to widen. But then who actually makes the decisions and who actually wields the power?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
