Puigdemont and the ‘journey’ to achieve the official status of Catalan in Europe

Prada de Conflent (France).- The former president of the Generalitat of Catalonia and leader of JxCat, Carles Puigdemont, has stated that there is “room” for achieving the official status of Catalan in the European Union (EU).
During his speech at the Catalan Summer University (UCE) on the Catalan language and the figure of Pompeu Fabra, held in the French town of Prada de Conflent, Puigdemont has recommended “being patient” for the achievement of this goal.
He has opined that the “argument” for the lack of unanimity in the EU Council to grant official status to Catalan is “purely political”: “It is because there is a party, the PP, that has made calls to block it”.
“Preventing Catalan from regaining the normality it should enjoy is, therefore, perpetuating Franco’s victory over our language,” the former president has asserted.

He celebrates the government’s attitude, although “it is late”

Puigdemont believes that the government of Pedro Sánchez “is doing things” that he “never would have thought they would do,” in relation to the linguistic agenda at the European level.
“Because reading on a paper (from the government) that Catalan is a language spoken by more than 10 million people, that is present in different communities of the State and that is spoken in different countries of the EU, forgive me, but this was the narrative we were making,” he exemplified.
Puigdemont has warned that this attitude “is not enough” because the government “has arrived late,” although he believes that it still “has possibilities” because “it is an important country; when it has wanted to appoint a high official of the European Commission, it has done so”.

“Losing the language battle”

On the other hand, the leader of Junts has asserted that “from the far left, the right, and the far right in Spain and Spanish nationalists,” who “deny” the transfer of migration competencies to the Generalitat, to “others” who demand a migration “that comes integrated from home,” are causing Catalonia to “lose the language battle”.
“Whether it is because they deny us essential competencies and resources to guarantee integration, or because hundreds of thousands of people are expelled from Catalan identity and sent to the welcoming arms of the PSOE and Spanish left,” he said.
Puigdemont has predicted that “excluding newcomers from generational relevance” at the linguistic level leads to the “unstoppable loss of speakers”. (August 19)