CatalàEnglish Site map Back to main page

News

• Date: 26/05/2008

  Landslide victory for autonomists in Aosta Valley elections

  Union Valdôtaine, the autonomist party currently in power, attracts largest share of the vote despite a slight decrease in votes and seats · Its coalition of autonomist parties obtains 23 out of 35 seats.

• Date: 23/05/2008

  Academy of Occitan Language gets up and running

  Viella, the capital of the Aran Valley, is as of Friday home to the headquarters of the main organization for the Occitan language · The second stage of the plan to normalize the language of Occitania is under way.

• Date: 22/05/2008

  France to recognize minority languages in Constitution

  In an unexpected U-turn, the French Assembly approves an amendment to article 1 of the French Constitution, which will define ‘regional’ languages as French heritage · The unexpected decision comes a fortnight after the Government’s cold response to the debate on minority languages.

• Date: 21/05/2008

  Opinion poll shows for the first time that Catalans would vote for independence in a referendum

  A report published by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya says that between 56% and 62% of Catalans would vote in favour of independence, the exact outcome depending on which way undecided voters swing · About 22% of people living in Catalonia describe themselves as “only Catalan”, and 19% “more Catalan than Spanish”.

• Date: 20/05/2008

  10th anniversary of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

  

  Most European states have now signed and ratified the Charter, but France, Greece and Italy still refuse to fully recognize their linguistic diversity · The Council of Europe stresses the importance of minority languages, ‘an integral and essential part of Europe’s mosaic’.

• Date: 19/05/2008

  Historic protest against the difficulties faced by the Galician language

  Thousands took to the streets of Santiago de Compostela yesterday demanding respect for their 'right to live in Galician' · Galicia’s language is under pressure because it is underused in education and justice and because of attacks by pro-Spanish language organizations.

• Date: 16/05/2008

  UN Special Rapporteur asks Spain to clarify its definition of terrorism

  Martin Scheinin, UN Special Rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, calls for 'incomunicado' detention to be scrapped and expresses concern over the lack of 'independent and rapid' investigations into allegations of torture.

• Date: 15/05/2008

  Scottish Labour U-turn on independence referendum

  In a matter of days, Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander has gone from opposing a referendum to calling for an early public consultation, before pressure from her own party has now forced her to oppose it again · The SNP still wants to hold the vote in 2010.

• Date: 09/05/2008

  Thousands take part in Asturian language demonstration

  

  The protest calling for ‘official status for Asturian’ was organized by La Xunta pola Defensa de la Llingua Asturiana (Assembly for the Defence of the Asturian Language) to coincide with Asturian Literature Day · Asturian does not have official status in the Spanish constitution or in the autonomous communities in which it is spoken.

• Date: 08/05/2008

  EU protects Euskadi’s fiscal autonomy

  

  Basque politicians and businessmen expressed their satisfaction after the Brussels-based Court of Justice ruled that the tax system in Euskadi is legal. The ruling was influenced by a previous ruling on the tax system in the Azores, which is different from Portugal’s.