The reaction en bloc by the political and media wings of the right against the agreement reached in the Parliament of Catalonia to push forward a new law on the Catalan language which might be compatible with the ruling of the High Court of Catalonia (TSJC) establishing a 25% Spanish language quota in Catalan schools, demonstrates the extent to which the offensive to disempower Catalonia's own language is a conscious campaign - conceived, developed and laboured over from Madrid. The Catalan Parliament, with a majority of nearly 80% that includes the PSC, ERC, Junts and En Comú Podem, has carefully stitched together a text on which some may put a different interpretation than others. Only time will tell if it is a mere band-aid to cover up a much deeper wound or, on the contrary, if the judicial invasion of Catalonia's educational programmes has been stopped.
Obviously, with the new law, Catalan is worse off than before, but this has been known since the TSJC ruled that 25% of education would be in Spanish. In any case, this is a fallacy, as in a great many schools, the proportion of classroom time conducted in Catalan does not currently reach 75%. The formula found, defining Catalan as the language of vehicular use and Spanish as the language of curricular use is a least common denominator between the four signatory parties. And thus, the satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the bill varies by neighbourhoods and does not alter the discomfort of some sectors, for example, of Junts, with the text. Members of the Puigdemont-led party are perhaps those most seen making gestures of frustration in the corridors of Parliament, although they all agree that the option of staying out of the consensus was worse.
In a way, on such a sensitive issue as Catalan in schools, the political consensus achieved has been that of the great occasions and when this happens it is normal that someone may not feel 100% satisfied. The only alternative to this agreement was one of two options that neither of the major pro-independence parties had dared to activate: to take the agreement forward with a reduced parliamentary majority, that is, to dispense with the PSC, or to propose an action of on-going disobedience with the entirely predictable result of bans from office and a difficulty in protecting the collective of teachers and school leaders. However, not even this would have guaranteed the ability, in practice, to carry out a massive act of opposition to the TSJC to reverse the situation, as the 25% Spanish ruling is in a phase of being implemented immediately by court order.
Even so, the compromises that became possible in order to move forward with the political consensus, have shown up two worlds, on this subject and so many others, distinguishing Catalonia from Madrid. The reaction of fury in the Spanish capital to the agreement and the lies that have been spread are nothing more than a reflection that in this matter they will not allow any slack and that political transactions will not be enough to deactivate the permanent campaign which exists against the Catalan language.
It also remains to be seen whether the justice system accepts the amendment approved by Parliament or if it turns out to be insufficient because, strange as it may seem to mere mortals, the use of Catalan in schools is not decided in school curricula as in any civilized country but in the courts. It is an anomaly that seems the most normal everyday thing to those outside Catalonia, yet in reality it is an intrusion that can only happen in Spain, where the political branches of government have lost power and the judiciary has gained it.