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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.

This year Asturian Literature Day (9 May) was dominated by a demonstration in favour of official status for Asturian in Uviéu (Oviedo), the capital of Asturias. La Xunta pola Defensa de la Llingua Asturiana (Assembly for the Defence of the Asturian Language), which organized the event, wanted to demonstrate the level of support for the language at a time when a new Statute of Autonomy for Asturias is being drawn up.

Spokesmen for La Xunta accused Asturias’ major political parties, PSOE and PP, of causing the “unfavourable” situation in which the language finds itself today, criticizing the “marginal presence” of Asturian in education, public administration and the media. “Sooner or later they will have to begin the Statute reform process, and if the official status of Asturian is not considered, the reform will not be definitive”, La Xunta concluded.

Several organizations and parties from across the Asturian-speaking region took part in the protest, including Izquierda Xunida-Bloque por Asturies-Verdes, Andecha Astur, Unidá, Comissiones Obreres, Union Xeral de Traballadores, Suatea and Xeira.

Several demonstrations calling for greater linguistic rights in Asturias take place each year. On 24 November 2007, 20,000 took to the streets of Uviéu in a protest organized by the Conceyu Abiertu Pola Oficialidá (Open Council for Official Status). Asturian President Álvarez Areces, however, has never shown any interest in granting Asturian an official status and has even stated that making Asturian official “is not what Asturians want.” PSOE, currently in the opposition, is not campaigning for recognition of the language either.

Linguamón estimates that Asturian (also known as Asturianu, Astur-Leonese or Bable) is today spoken by between 300,000 and 450,000 people in the Spanish regions of Asturias and León and in Miranda in Portugal. Asturian and Aragonese are the only two minority languages that do not have official recognition in Spain.

Photo: Demonstration in Uviéu, AsturNews.

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