The government of Salvador Illa continues to apply the 2007 signage manual, which establishes Catalan as the only language for public school signs. The Supreme Court ordered in July to end the exclusion of Spanish.
The Supreme Court ordered the Generalitat last July to end the exclusion of Spanish in the signs of Catalan public schools. Three months later, the government of Salvador Illa has not moved and continues to apply the same internal document that has regulated the signage of its buildings for nearly two decades.
This is the Manual for Interior Space Signage, last revised in 2007, during the tripartite government presided over by José Montilla, formed by PSC, ERC, and ICV. The text states that "the language used in signage is Catalan" and adds that "bilingualism is not provided for," according to elmundo.es.
The manual only contemplates one exception: "exceptionally, and in specific cases, a second language may be used." In that case, the rule requires it to be placed "below Catalan and in italics," which places Spanish in a subordinate position to the regional language. The Generalitat relies on this document to not comply with the Supreme Court ruling.
The ruling annulled a section of the management plan for educational centres that the government approved in July 2022. That text established that the signage of the centre's spaces would be in Catalan, in Occitan in the Valle de Arán, and in Catalan sign language when appropriate, and that the presence of other languages on walls and signs would be limited to student productions.
The high court responded to a challenge from the Assembly for a Bilingual School (AEB). The judges rejected the Generalitat's argument that the physical space is unrelated to educational activity and concluded that "the configuration of the facilities of educational centres is indeed the setting or landscape of educational activity and, consequently, forms part of it."
"It is not the same in terms of the vision of things conveyed to students, a physical space where signs and posters are only in one or in both languages of the corresponding Autonomous Community," the ruling states.
The ruling emphasizes that Spanish is an official language throughout Spain and cannot be excluded from communications between public authorities and citizens. "The signs and signals that allow orientation in buildings belonging to the Administration - such as public schools and institutes - constitute a way of communicating with individuals accessing them," argues the Supreme Court.
Hence, it concludes that excluding Spanish from that signage does not respect Article 3 of the Constitution and may introduce an unjustified difference in treatment regarding language, referring to Article 14 of the constitution. The ruling leaves the door open for this criterion to also apply to the offices of other public bodies.
In light of this situation, Impulso Ciudadano, a constitutionalist entity led by professor Rafael Arenas, and the AEB are preparing a document to demand a change in the Generalitat's signage regulations. Both entities believe that the manual cannot continue to stipulate that signage is done solely in Catalan.
The conflict affects the signs that thousands of students and families see every day in public schools and institutes across Catalonia, from classrooms to hallways and entrances. The regulations governing them remain the same as they were 19 years ago, despite the judicial pronouncement.
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