Although Catalan education already held a strike last week with a response that was more than notable - with the three day stoppage in protest at the imposition by the education ministry of a school calendar that brings forward the start of the school year in September, to be followed by two more days of industrial action next week - it is important that we separate that justified demand from another that is central to the Catalan educational model: the rejection of the order by the High Court of Catalonia (TSJC) to impose a quota of 25% of teaching hours in the Spanish language. In the midst of a European war of still unknown dimensions, a pandemic and a post-pandemic that have become embroiled in war, a warning about shortages of food products in the coming days as a result of strikes by transport operators, a rise in energy costs that is following an absolutely unprecedented curve, closing companies and threatening many SMEs, it is possible that the strike in defence of the Catalan school this Wednesday may have trouble getting the media coverage it deserves.
If we add the confrontation between the pro-independence parties, in many cases the result of a debate more appropriate to children than university graduates, it is normal that the background ambience is not all it could be for the defence of the Catalan school, the language immersion model and, above all, the right of the Catalan government to preserve its educational model without interference from the political power of Madrid and the courts. It cannot be accepted as normal that the most recent decision on each and every one of the issues that affect the people of Catalonia is taken not by its government or Parliament but by one of the courts, normally the TSJC or the Supreme Court. In recent years, more political decisions have been made by the those who wear legal gowns than by the elected rulers. Thus, without going into Article 155 and its consequences, the date of the Catalan elections (February 14th) was decided in the courts, the decision on whether or not to maintain the curfew during the pandemic and a Catalan president was removed from office.
But despite this partisan disparity, it is very important to defend the Catalan school, which is more than just an education system. It is a model for the country, for understanding and working with migrants, of a desire to be one people, of aspiring to the same level of opportunities for all citizens in which, obviously, the knowledge of the country's own language cannot be left as a minor matter or a temporary phase. It must be central and must be safeguarded as the true spinal nerve of the nation that it is. It is not a small battle, much less a provisional one. We now know that it is huge and must be maintained over time and that this requires a strong government and a very large parliamentary majority. Will our illustrious rulers ever learn something about how Madrid's parties behave in resolving their conflicts? Because there is a huge crisis in the Pedro Sánchez executive over Morocco and how the Sahrawi people have been betrayed and the only thing they are clear about is that the PSOE is not excluding Podemos because of its discrepancies and Podemos is not leaving the government either.
The responsibility unites them, for sure. Or, as some might put it pejoratively, the charge does. But also, the need to keep the right out of government, and especially the current right. This is legitimate and also responds to an interest which is not trivial from broad sectors of their electorate. Not all their voters, obviously. Nothing is ever for everyone, but it may be for a large majority. This view is sometimes lacking in Catalonia where every minute of the day ERC would like to have Junts out of the government while many of those in Puigdemont's party yearn for the inverse. For both of them this would be the easy and sure way to mobilize a part of their party grass roots. But would it satisfy their voters? That is already another story and I fear that the price for trying to alter the current situation would end up being paid by those who believe it would yield dividends.
However, what is expected of them is that they take action unreservedly in defence of the Catalan school, beyond statements and demonstrations. The state's offensive is so great that disunity does not make each party stronger, but rather, it weakens the whole.