World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples Spain Valencians

Title

World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Spain : Valencians

Publisher

Publication Date

2008

Cite as

Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Spain : Valencians, 2008, available at:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49749ca83c.html [accessed 3 September 2010]

World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Spain :

Valencians

Profile

There are an estimated 1 million Valencian-speakers in Valencia and another 1.5
million who can understand the language. Valencian is a variant of Catalan. It has
been described as a distinct dialect. However, there is disagreement within
Valencia about its status. The regional government and supporters of the
regionalist political party Unión Valenciana consider it a separate language,
whereas the cultural association Acció Cultural del País Valencià and trade union
Sindicat de Treballadors i Treballadores de l'Ensenyament-Intersindical Valenciana
have fought for its inclusion in Catalan. The majority of Valencian-speakers work
in services, especially the tourist industry.

Historical context

King John I of Aragon and Catalonia drove the Muslim rulers from Valencia in the
thirteenth century and the Catalan language was introduced to the region. There
is controversy over how prevalent Catalan was at this time and whether the
Valencian version derived principally from Mozarabic (Romance languages written
in Arabic script and spoken during the centuries of Muslim rule), or like Catalan
itself, from an old version of Occitan. The Valencian culture and language
experienced a golden age in the fourteenth century but declined from the
fifteenth century as Castilian was adopted by the aristocracy and bureaucracy.
Valencian literature revived in the nineteenth century. The Second Republic's
proposed autonomy for Valencia in 1931 came to nothing.

Autonomy was revived in 1978. Under Valencia's 1982 Statute of Autonomy,
Valencian and Castilian are the official languages of the Valencia Autonomous
Community. This was followed by the 1983 Law for the use and teaching of the
Valencian language, which included provision for its standardization. This has
been carried out by the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. Despite this work and
a new government directorate from 1989 to promote the use of Valencian, in 1991
the government invited educational establishments to draw up their own language
standardization plans. Teachers keenly took up the proposal.

Reversals for Valencian as a distinct language from Catalan started when the Acció
Cultural del País Valencià and Sindicat de Treballadors i Treballadores de
l'Ensenyament-Intersindical Valenciana took the Valencian government to court
over its 1995 instruction that Catalan language teaching qualifications issued in
Catalonia and Balearic Islands should no longer be recognized in Valencia. This
culminated in a ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court in May 2006 that Valencian
was part of the Catalan language. The Supreme Court took into account
dictionaries and studies in Catalan philology. An earlier decision by the European
Parliament found that the Catalan and Valencian translations of the European
Constitution were essentially the same. Spain was obliged to translate the
constitution into all Spanish official languages and deliver copies to the EU
institutions before holding its referendum on the EU Constitution in 2004.

Current issues

The dispute over whether Valencian is a distinct language or a variant of Catalan
has hindered its revival. There is growing interest from young people, and families
outside the main cities use Valencian at home. There is little use of Valencian in
business. The regional government has been criticized for scarcely using the
language despite its programmes for promotion of Valencian. However, regional
laws are published in Valencian and Castilian, while national laws are published
only in Castilian. Municipalities and other lower levels of public administration use
Valencian to a lesser or greater extent. It is hardly used in judicial proceedings,
although speakers have the right to demand documents in the language and
interpreters.

Valencian is a compulsory subject at all educational levels and it is the main
teaching language in some schools. Valencian has increased as a language of
instruction and as a subject in pre-school, primary and secondary levels,
especially away from the main urban areas where Castilian predominates. The
provision of Valencian in higher education is limited.

There is a weekly newspaper, El Temps, and a monthly magazine, Saó, published
in Valencian. Book publishing, especially of poetry and short story collections, is
on the increase. In 1988 the regional government set up Canal 9 Ràdio, which
broadcasts entirely in Valencian, and in 1989 the government set up Canal 9 TVV,
which broadcasts around 60 per cent of it programmes in Valencian.

The regional government has published a Valencian word-processing package,
ILLA. A second Valencian word-processing programme, DITEXTO, is put out by a
private company.