The government of the Netherlands and five provinces signed earlier in October an agreement that opens the door to boost official support for Low Saxon, a minoritised language spoken in the north-east of the European country. The covenant strengthens a slight recognition that Low Saxon already enjoyed, and makes it possible —though it does not guarantee it— a place for the language in some schools. Keep reading

One year after the 1 October 2017 Catalan referendum on independence, thousands —according to the local police, 180,000— took to the streets of Barcelona to commemorate the date and to demand action from the Catalan authorities to implement an independent republic in Catalonia. But after having seen devolution suspended for 7 months, the current pro-independence Catalan government is cautious about steps it takes. Yesterday’s demonstration left images in the form of symbols and signs that help explain where this political conflict stands right now. Keep reading

“I like minorities, diaspora communities and micro-societies. The Minorcans’ journey to Gibraltar brings together those three interests.” This is how Catalan journalist, philologist and historian Martí Crespo (Barcelona, 1972) explains his motivation to trace a not very well known episode of the western Mediterranean history of the 18th and early 19th centuries: the settlement in Gibraltar of hundreds of Minorcans from the Balearic Islands, a community that at some point reached 6% of the Rock’s population, and whose legacy can be traced to date. Out of his work, Els ‘minorkeens’ of Gibraltar has been published this summer, the book being presented in Barcelona (26 September), Minorca (15 and 16 October) and the Rock (26 October). Keep reading

The Bamyan province lies at the centre of Hazarajat, one of many territories of which Afghanistan is made up. One of the larger minoritised peoples of Afghanistan, the Hazara —a Farsi-speaking, Shi’a group—, live there. A couple of years ago, Nationalia released —find it here in Catalan— an interview with Carme Roure, in which the state of discrimination and violence faced by the Hazara was analysed. Today, we are having a look onto a rather kinder face of that territory through this Global Voices story. Keep reading