Per a la presència de versions catalanes de molts productes a la web, convé molt que el català quedi entre les llengües més emprades a internet. Per tant, els usuaris catalanoparlants cal que poguem ser identificats com a tals. La importància de fer-ho, i com fer-ho, s'expliquen amb molt de detall a http://blocs.mesvilaweb.cat/node/view/id/108618. Aneu-hi! El Laboratori de Tecnologies Lingüístiques de l'IULA (UPF) m'informa que ens ofereix una aplicació que detecta si el nostre navegador ens identifica davant dels servidors com a catalanoparlant. El detector està instal·lat a l'adreça següent; http://brangaene.upf.es/cgi-bin/latel/ca.cgi Et diu en un moment si tens el català com a llengua preferida del teu navegador. Sembla que, en el cas del Mac, els usuaris estàndard (sovint reacis a remenar configuracions) no ho tenen fàcil si el seu navegador és el de la casa Apple (Safari). A sota hi ha una il·lustració de com que la llengua es tria obrint les preferències del sistema (equivalent als "paneles de control" dels windoides). Estaria bé que algú confegís una pàgina que expliqués, per a cada plataforma i cada navegador, els passos, quasi sempre senzills, per poder optar pel català com a llengua preferida del navegador. Voluntari? Per altra banda, molts programes de Microsoft tenen versió catalana gratuïta: Windows Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft 2007 Office system, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft Windows XP... Pels que som usuaris (també) de Windows ... a què esperem? Hi podem accedir aquí: http://www.microsoft.com/spain/cat/ordinador/default.mspx
Firstly, "leading novelists" as the author puts it are quite free to give their opinion, of course, but to call former Catalan first minister Jordi Pujol a "cacique or provincial political boss" is not a term even his political opponents in Catalonia would use. How many of his generation, who in a democratic regime like the UK (or almost anywhere else in western Europe at the time) might have been attracted to a political career, actually did so? Under Franco, noone without the firmest of convictions would have dreamt of doing so. 23 years in power, having won the first regional elections to be held in over 45 years does not, in my view, entitle anyone to the title of cacique.
Secondly, and more importantly, the author has fallen foul of the media campaign being fuelled since the Partido popular failed to win the last general election, in part by a new nationalist party with a single MP for Madrid, the Unión Progreso y Democracia, whose main aim seems to be to stir up ill will in the Spanish-speaking centre of Spain, against Catalans and Basques (by no means a new pastime in that part of the world). Their main hobby horse is the language of public schools in Catalonia. They reject a system which produces bilingual school-leavers, and claim that Spanish-speaking parents have a right, which is certainly not an internationally recognised fundamental human right, to send their children to schools which, in practice, fail to achieve generalised bilingualism. This right does certainly not exist in the most exquisitely respectful country in the world as regards language (Switzerland, or in Flanders or Wallonia either for that matter).
These people, and those behind a recent Manifiesto in defence (sic!) of the Spanish language (the wording of which reminded many of a discourse which went out of fashion over 30 years ago), and the founders of the Fundación DENAES para la Defensa de la Nación Española, are not rebelling against recent legislation. They merely use language for political ends, and accuse everyone else (Catalans and Basques) of being nationalists. Despite paying lip service, they simply have not taken on board the fact that Spain is multilingual, and still defend a linguistic hierarchy which for many is offensive and humiliating.
They do, though, have many allies in the press: La Razón, ABC, El Mundo, and the infamous COPE radio station, are quick to air their views.
Their very existence, and the aggressive way they treat some parts of Spain as if they were invading foreigners, are fuelling the flames of the freedom movements in the Basque country (whose level of autonomy, by the way, is well below that of Flanders or Scotland, for instance) and Catalonia, where a survey published in May showed that in a referendum for independence, Catalonia would vote to become a sovereign state. Alongside a dozen European states that have taken the same path in the past 20 years.
All in all, your article seems to have been thought up and researched in Madrid... or from Madrid!
It may come as a surprise some readers that Spain can be regarded in many ways as a highly centralised country, despite its "autonomous communities" system of decentralised regional government.
The United Kingdom has the following active members of the Union:
· British Broadcasting Corporation · United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting, comprising: Independent Television: The Network Centre, grouping: - ITV Anglia Television - ITV Border Television - ITV Central Television - Channel Television - ITV Granada Television - Grampian TV - ITV Wales Television - ITV West Television - ITV London Television - ITV Meridian Television - Scottish TV - ITV Tyne Tees Television - Ulster Television - ITV Westcountry Television - ITV Yorkshire Television · Channel 4 · Sianel 4 Cymru The Netherlands have the following:
· Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, comprising: - Algemene Omroepvereniging AVRO - Omroepvereniging BNN - Vereniging De Evangelische Omroep - Katholieke Radio Omroep - Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging - Nederlandse Omroep Stichting - Nederlandse Programma Stichting - Omroepvereniging VARA - Omroepvereniging VPRO - TROS
So, any guess as to the number of active members from Spain??
· Radio Popular SA COPE · Radiotelevisión Española · Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión
The following comment by the Air Berlin CEO has been published in the latest issue of the in-flight magazine. "Lieber Fluggast! Der deutsche Kaiser Karl V., der auch König von Spanien war, führte nach seiner Krönung im Jahr 1519 Spanisch als Verkehrssprache an seinem Hof ein. Intelligente Zeitgenossen wunderte das nicht, denn Spanien war damals bereits ein Weltreich – immerhin hatte Kolumbus 1492 Amerika entdeckt. Den Untertanen Karls V., die die fremde Sprache nicht verstanden, kam das allerdings „spanisch“ vor. Wenn wir heute etwasnicht verstehen, kommt uns das noch immer „spanisch“ vor. Aktualisiert müsste der Spruch jedoch lauten: „Das kommt mir katalanisch vor.“ Heute ist Spanisch keine officielle Sprache mehr Katalan ist die Sprache, die im Nordosten Spaniens und in der Abwandlung Mallorquin auf Mallorca gesprochen wird. Von dort erreichte mich kürzlich ein Brief in bestem Deutsch, verfasst von einer Abteilungsleiterin der balearischen Landesregierung. Textauszug: „Ich wende mich an Sie, um Ihnen mitzuteilen, dass die Regierung der Balearen großes Interesse daran hat, dass in der Kommunikation Ihres Unternehmens mit den Bürgern, die sich für Flüge mit Air Berlin entscheiden, ein adäquater Gebrauch der offiziellen Sprache der Inseln gewährleistet wird. Bei einer grundlegenden und essenziellen Dienstleistung, wie es die Flüge von und nach Mallorca, Menorca und Eivissa (gemeint ist Ibiza) sind, ist es unerlässlich, dass den katalanischsprachigen Bürgern und Konsumenten in korrekter Weise die Verwendung ihrer Sprache garantiert wird.“ Ab an die Platscha de Palma! Wow! Dabei war ich gerade stolz darauf, dass es uns gelungen ist, auf jedem innerspanischen Flugmindestens eine Stewardess an Bord zu haben, die des Spanischen mächtig ist. Soll ich diesen Mitarbeiterinnen jetzt Katalan-Kurse verordnen? Und denen, die die Gäste auf Flügen nach Galizien oder ins Baskenland betreuen,auch in Galizisch oder Baskisch? Spricht denn dort niemand mehr Spanisch? Wenn der Regionalisierungseifer im Königreich Spanien so weiter geht wie bisher, so versicherte mir ein mallorquinischer Freund, sei das keine Utopie. Schon heute gebe es Dörfer auf der Insel, in denen die Kinder kein Spanisch mehr können. An vielen Schulen Mallorcas ist das nämlich eine Fremdsprache wie Englisch oder Deutsch. Die einst so wohlklingende „Playa de Palma“ heißt jetzt „Platja de Palma“. Was „Platscha de Palma“ ausgesprochen wird, ziemlich gewöhnungsbedürftig ist und nicht eben an die Sprache eines Weltreichs erinnert. Rückfall in mitteralterliche Kleinstaaterei Bisher glaubte ich, dass wir in einem Europa ohne Grenzen leben. In einem Europa, in dem zwar jeder seine kulturellen Eigenheiten pflegen darf, in dem jedoch das Verbindende und nicht das Trennende im Vordergrund steht. Die von regionalen Nationalisten in weiten Teilen Spaniens. angestrebte Autonomie ist jedenfalls ein Rückfall in mittelalterliche Kleinstaaterei. Dabei hat gerade Mallorca von der EU profitiert wie kaum eine andere europäische Region. Auf der reichen Insel gibt es nur wenige neue Straßen, die nicht von der EU bezahlt wurden. Selbst der gewinnträchtige Flughafen in Palma wurde weitgehend von der EU finanziert. Mit einem katalanischen Solo-Auftritt hätte man das nie und nimmer erreicht. Einen guten Flug wünscht Ihnen. Joachim Hunold, CEO Air Berlin http://multimedia.avui.cat/0000029000/0000029263.pdf
...ooo000ooo...
The uproar in Catalan circles both in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia proper, is considerable. A rapid backdown by Air Berlin is called for, plus positive measures to include Catalan both in flight announcements and for other services such as the website. Air Berlin would thus join airlines such as RyanAir, easyJet, Spanair, Vueling, Clickair, Air Europa and others who have already decided to use Catalan. See for yourselves! The intolerant attitude adopted by Herr Hunold has been depicted in graphic form by many Catalan websites (see above for one of the less agrressive ones!).
Das Air Berlin Magazin hat einen Herausgeberartikel seines Generaldirektors, Joachim Hunhold, veröffentlicht, in welchem unsere katalanische Sprache verachtet und schlechtgemacht wird. Diese unsere Muttersprache, welche von mehr als 11 Millionen Menschen gesprochen wird, ist ofizielle Sprache der Balearen und ist mehr denn je in allen Bereichen des sozialen Lebens präsent. Der genannte Artikel beinhaltet Behauptungen, die in keinster Weise der Wahrheit entsprechen und eher an die spanische Diktatur erinnern, die das Katalanische 40 lange Jahre lang rigoros unterdrückte.
Als Mallorcas Jugend für die Sprache verstehen wir nicht, warum eine grosse Fluggesellschaft, die auf unserer Insel grosse Gewinne erzielt, so wenig Respekt gegenüber unserer Sprache zeigt und denken, dass sich diese Verachtung in keinster Weise positiv auf die bisher gute Beziehung zwischen Mallorca und Deutschland auswirkt.
Deshalb fordern wir, dass sich Air Berlin bei der mallorquinischen Gesellschaft entschuldigt und den Artikel zurückzieht.
CATALÀ
Air Berlin menysprea la llengua catalana
Air Berlin Magazin ha publicat un editorial del seu director, Joachim Hunold, que menysprea el català. La llengua pròpia, parlada per més d'onze milions de persones, és oficial a les Balears i té presència a nombrosos àmbits de la vida social. L'editorial inclou afirmacions totalment falses, que ideològicament recorden la dictadura feixista espanyola que va prohibir l'ús del català durant quaranta anys. No entenem que una empresa amb grans guanys econòmics al nostre país tengui tan poc respecte per la nostra cultura i consideram que aquest menyspreu no és positiu per al manteniment de les bones relacions d'amistat entre Mallorca i Alemanya. Per això demanam a Air Berlin que s'excusi davant la societat mallorquina i retiri l'article.
ENGLISH
The Air Berlin in-flight Magazine has recently published an article of its editor, Joachim Hunold, that really undervalues and despises our Catalan language. The Catalan language, which is spoken by more than 11 million speakers, is an official language of the Balearic Islands and is used in all areas of our social life.
This article contains affirmations which are false and remember the Spanish Dictatorship which strangled the Catalan language for 40 long years!
We cannot understand why an important company, that generates important profits in our territory, does show such an disrespect towards our language and we think that this lamentable behaviour does not help to maintain the positive relationship between Mallorca and Germany.
So we want Air Berlin to apologize for its behaviour and to withdraw this article.
Entre un 52% i un 62% dels catalans votarien favorablement en un referèndum d'independència de Catalunya segons es reflexa en l'estudi 'Llengua i identitat a Catalunya 2008' elaborat per la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), realitzat amb 1108 enquestes a majors de 15 anys.
L'estudi revela que un 36,5% votaria segur a favor de la independència mentre que un 22,1% votaria en contra. Un 27,1% s'abstindria i un 11,7% no té decidit què faria. Aquesta dada superaria el primer dels dos criteris que la Unió Europea va establir amb motiu de la consulta a Montenegro, el de la participació, ja que hi votaria més del 50 per cent d'habitants. Pel que fa al segon criteri, que es el d'aconseguir un 55% de vots afirmatius, la ponderació del vot indecís dóna una forquilla entre el 52 i el 62% de vots favorables. Suposant que els indecisos s'abstinguessin, el vot favorable arribaria al 62%, mentre que si tots els indecisos votessin en contra, la victòria del sí seria més ajustada, és a dir, d'un 52%.
The Spanish car manfacturer, SEAT, names its models after towns: Málaga, León, Toledo, Ibiza, Marbella and Córdoba. Their factory in Martorell (Catalonia) is to bring out a new model before the end of this year, and a name has to be chosen for it.
At a meeting of the chairman of the board, Francisco García-Sanz, with journalists at the Spanish embassy in Berlin, he said jokingly that they've run out of names of towns and cities.
ACN (Agència Catalana de Notícies) reported that a fair number of those present, including the Spanish ambassador, Gabriel Busquets-Aparicio, laughed out loud when, in reply to a remark by a (Catalan) journalist to the effect that no car has been named after a Catalan city, Sr. García-Sanz said that "we are Spanish".
When reminded that the SEAT factory is in Catalonia, he said that the factory couldn't be taken to Madrid, and repeated that "we are Spanish".
Sr. García-Sanz is also a member of the Volkswagen group board in Wolfsburg (Lower Saxony).
Llegeixo una excel·lent notícia a Nació Digital (24 d'abril de 2008), que ens arriba de Lausanna (Suïssa): "El Tribunal d'Arbitratge de l'Esport (TAS) ha donat la raó a la Federació Internacional de Bowling, en el contenciós que va plantejar la Federació Espanyola en contra del reconeixement internacional de la Federació Catalana de Bitlles i Bowling. El TAS, doncs, ha avalat l'oficialitat de la selecció catalana de bitlles i "bowling" i ha confirmat la Federació Catalana com a membre de ple dret a la Federació Internacional.
De fet, l'ens federatiu català va ser reconegut oficialment el mes d'agost passat com a membre de ple dret internacional. Però la Federació Espanyola va recórrer al TAS, al·legant que les lleis de l'estat espanyol impedeixen aquest tipus de reconeixement.
En aquest cas, el TAS ha estimat que prevalen els estatuts de la Federació Internacional i així la Federació Catalana seguirà com a membre de ple dret internacional i podrà competir en els diferents tornejos que s'organitzin."
El rebuig del recurs de la Federació Espanyola, que al·legava que les lleis de l'estat espanyol impedeixen el reconeixement internacional d'una federació catalana, significa que QUALSEVOL federació catalana té un camí planer, des d'un punt de vista legal, per fer el mateix que la Federació Catalana de Bitlles i Bowling. Això és una excel·lent notícia!!! La sentència es pot llegir aquí.
I have done my best to translate the news item from the Spanish press: a military association regards the appointment of a Catalan (woman) to the post as a sign of contempt!
A.M.E. sees "contempt" in Chacón being put in charge of Defence, for being "a woman, Catalan and pregnant"
MADRID, 12 (SERVIMEDIA) The Asociación de Militares Españoles (AME) stated today that the appointment of Carme Chacón as new minister of Defence means a "contempt" for the Army for being "a woman, Catalan and pregnant".
In declarations to Servimedia, the president of AME, José Conde, confessed to having been “shocked” when he heard that Zapatero had chosen Chacón as minister of Defence, since it seems as if he wants "to annoy" the soldiers.
Conde stated that they "are many things" that make him reject the appointment of Chacón, since several of her characteristics make her hardly compatible with the post she is going to occupy.
Besides criticizing the "ignorance" of the military career that Chacón has, he warned that a Catalan is not the most suitable person to be minister "given what may happen" when the Constitutional Court issues its decision on the appeal against the Statute of Catalonia.
"It is clear that the armed forces have to defend the unity of Spain and, if the Statute breaks it overnight, what is going to happen? Besides, after the burning of the photos of the King, Zapatero appoints a Catalan. “Does he mean this to be a provocation, or what?", added.
Conde criticized that a pregnant woman is going to be minister of Defence when "many men and many women could be chosen from" but he admitted that that is a "temporary" problem.
Finally, the president of AME asked Chacón to make the right decisions in her new post, and to listen to the demands of the soldiers’ associations.
Avui m'arriba la trista notícia de la teva mort. No tinc paraules. En Rafael, membre corresponent de la Secció Filològica de l'IEC des del 28 de febrer de 2006, deixa un llegat cultural de gran nivell acadèmic: pocs aspectes de la història i vida alguereses havia deixat sense estudiar a fons. Alhora que faig arribar a la Fillj i als seus fills el nostre condol, espero que tot allò que havia treballat, i que encara no ha vist la llum, pugui ser recuperat per altres estudiosos de la ciutat catalana de Sardenya. Notícies:
Linguistic peace under threat in Catalonia: Spain's Partido Popular instrumentalise language issues to try and win votes
The Spanish People's Party, in opposition since losing the General Election in 2004, has recently published its Election Manifesto, a 50-page document with 234 policy statements. Several of them are couched in sugary terms which may at first glance seem reasonable to the layman, but which on closer observation are seen to conceal disturbing intentions. If carried out, they could lead to serious social conflict. Let us briefly look at four of them.
114. Garantizaremos por ley el derecho a utilizar y a estudiar en castellano en todas las etapas del sistema educativo.
= "We shall ensure by law the right to use Spanish and to study in it at all levels of the education system".
This is designed simply and solely to strike at the very heart of the school system on Catalonia. It was democratically devised by the Parliament of Catalonia over 20 years ago and sets out to make sure that schoolchildren are not separated by language, that is, that there is no risk of cultural apartheid. By law, all students have to achieve a full command of both Catalan and Spanish (the two official languages) by the end of their compulsory education. Is this not enough? We're talking here about two Romance languages: the speakers of one can learn the other quite quickly. The Parliament of Catalonia laid down the right to use and to study in Catalan at all levels of the education system, simply because it has been the language of the territory for 800 years or more. Spanish is a complusory subject in all grades.
The People's Party's proposal is built upon the quite unstable foundations of a couple of bogus studies that claim that Spanish-speaking children do badly at school because lessons are taught mainly in Catalan. It would have a highly divisive effect on Catalan society, and shatter the current levels of Catalan that ALL school children attain (and which, overall, are lower than the levels of Spanish).
201. Desarrollaremos una Política Nacional para la Mejora de la Calidad de la Educación, que proporcione estabilidad al sistema y garantice entre otros objetivos: la reducción del fracaso escolar, la igualdad de oportunidades en el sistema de becas, la solidaridad, la movilidad de los alumnos y el derecho a estudiar en castellano en todas las etapas del sistema educativo.
= "We shall develop a National Policy for Improving the Quality of Education, which will give the system stability and which will ensure, among other objectives: the reduction of student failure, equal opportunities in the grants system, solidarity, pupil mobility and the right to study in Spanish at all levels of education".
The People's Party insidiously links the "right" to study in Spanish (a false right: being an official language merely means that all pupils have to learn it!) with a policy aimed at quality in education. What will "stability" put an end to? What does "solidarity" mean, when the fiscal deficit endured by Catalonia is already crippling? "Pupil mobility and the right to study in Spanish" could easily mean laying down that all university classes where there is even a single student from the rest of Spain have to be in Spanish (about 60% of BA classes are in Catalan).
204. Desarrollaremos un modelo de enseñanza bilingüe (castellano e inglés) o trilingüe en aquellas Comunidades Autónomas con lengua cooficial, asegurando la formación del profesorado en inglés. Articularemos un Programa Nacional de Becas para aumentar las oportunidades de estudio en el extranjero.
= "We shall develop a model of bilingual (Spanish and English) or trilingual (in regions which have their own official language) education, and ensure the training of teachers in English. We shall design a National Grants Programme so as to increase ooportunities for studying abroad."
The People's Party seems to be unaware that the Spanish parliament does not have the power to impose bi- or trilingual models in schools. It is the regional Parliaments that have such powers (even though they are subject to constraints, unlike the German länder, Flanders or Scotland, for instance).
113. Esta reforma [de la Constitución] tendrá como ejes básicos:
[...] • Dotar al Estado de los instrumentos necesarios para garantizar la igualdad de los españoles en derechos, deberes y oportunidades.
= "This reform (of the Constitution) will have as its basic aims [...] to provide the State with the instruments needed to ensure the equality of Spaniards in rights, duties and opportunities."
Again, the language used here sounds wonderful: "equality", "rights and duties", "opportunities". But there are sufficient instruments built into the Spanish Constitution already, so perhaps the party has a hidden agenda, once again aimed at the Catalans (note that nowhere in the whole of Spain does this party win as few votes as it does in Catalonia; is this a cause or an effect of these election pledges, probably aimed first and foremost at the party's clientele in the rest of Spain?).
Conclusions
None of this would seem so threatening were it not for the precedents of the experience of previous terms in office of the Partido Popular, notably in the period 2000-2004. The fact that the Partido Popular is a party that in many ways smacks of the old Francoist ideology, and significantly, has repeatedly refused to vote in favour of motions which condemn the practices of the Franco dictatorship, should put democratic Europe on guard. As the former President of the Italian Republic Francesco Cossiga has often put it, the Partido Popular are in many ways the heirs of all that Franco stood for. He indeed described former PP leader José María Aznar as a "legionary sergeant".
Once again, the Spanish conservatives are resorting to language (which simply ISN'T a social issue in Catalonia) as a political hatchet. They know it wins votes for them in other parts of Spain, where grossly distorted stories circulate about what goes on in Catalonia (for instance, as shown in a grotesque programme on the PP-controlled Madrid TV channel some months ago). In 2008 Europe, where else may we see this kind of territorial hatred being fanned to favour State-nationalist vote to the detriment of the identity and rights of stateless nations with poor political coverage? Perhaps it will now become clearer to many why it is that so many Catalans would like their country to be a sovereign state in the EU, instead of remaining attached to Spain and being subjected to the whims of Spanish nationalist parties!
L'acte, organitzat conjuntament per tres dels principals moviments sobiranistes (Sobirania i Progrés, la Plataforma Pel Dret de Decidir (PDD), i el Cercle d'Estudis Sobiranistes, va agregar més de 700 persones que varen omplir de gom a gom l'auditori. Va ser un acte més de sobiranisme multitudinari!
A continuació, enllaços a alguns dels reportatges periodístics i gràfics de l'acte.
1. Vídeos
a. L'ovació d'un minut en entrar l'Ibarretxe a la sala AXA (Winterthur) el 17 de gener de 2008 (1 min 2 segons)
