The Spanish audiovisual bill approved by Pedro Sánchez's cabinet has revealed itself as yet another confidence trick and the agreements that were supposedly reached, in this case with Catalonia's ERC, which allowed the Sánchez government to push its annual budget through the Congress of Deputies, have disappeared in the wink of an eye. It is hardly news that this has happened, since the precedents in the area of non-compliances by the Spanish prime minister are at Guinness Book of Records level. It doesn't matter whether the subject is the Catalan language, infrastructure or the execution of the budget, at some point when it all has to be put down in black and white, the negotiation derails and, by that time, the Spanish government has put so much distance between itself and the issue that it no longer needs to correct anything.
To get to the nub, the situation is as follows: the Spanish government had reached an agreement that provided for an obligation to include a quota for Spain's co-official languages - Catalan, Basque and Galician are the main ones - of at least 6% of the total content offered on audiovisual platforms. This percentage had been established on the basis that 30% of the entire content catalogue had to be European work. Then, of this 30%, half is to be in languages of the Spanish state, and in turn, of this proportion, two-fifths in Catalan, Basque or Galician. This adds up to the 6% agreed for the three languages considered co-official alongside Spanish in their respective autonomous communities. In practice, it might very easily end up being 2% of the catalogue for each language.
Along with this last nuance, which apparently was already in the small print of the agreement, Pedro Sánchez has introduced the latest sleight-of-hand trick from the Moncloa government palace: yes, well, but it will not be exactly like that and the audiovisual platforms will be divided between those have residence in Spain and those who do not. Good heavens! Sánchez lifts the handkerchief and it is revealed that the measure only affects Movistar, Atresmedia and Filmin and, in addition, the last-named already meets the ratio. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney and HBO Max are not affected, as the European regulation on country of origin would apply. For the final touch, the Spanish government - the project is in the hands of the first deputy prime minister, Nadia Calviño - states that it considers the deal is respectful of the agreement it made with ERC.
A solution will be found, especially after ERC had to raise its voice and threaten to vote the bill into the waste paper basket and even block the Spanish budget in the Senate. Trying to trash the budget in the Senate is somewhat more difficult than in Congress because in the upper house the PSOE has alternative majorities with many small parties, and they would end up being returned to the government, which would end up re-presenting the accounts in the lower house, where the last word would be said. Catastrophe for Sánchez will, in the end, be avoided and an agreement reached. But I am very wary, because experience does not allow me to see it any other way, that it will be a new failure to comply. In this new legislative journey, an unforeseen event will arise, European regulations or something will be invented, so that the end is not as planned.
It was supposed to be the same with the Celaá law of education and, in the end, Catalan language immersion in schools is in danger. I always remember captain Louis Renault, in Casablanca, exclaiming, "I'm shocked, shocked, to find out that gambling is going on in here!" The Moncloa could very well have a sign at its entrance with the following slogan: "Deceit is going on in here."