The Catalan Ombudsman does not defend all and every
person
Do not be fooled by the beautiful words and the pomposity of the façades. Of
course, we are not asking you to believe all the information we give you here. But, in
the name of scientific truth and justice, we beg you to look for independent information.
During the Symposium "Linguistic Rights and social
cohesion" the Catalan Ombudsman has said that there is an
"exquisite linguistic equilibrium" in Catalonia, but it is necessary
to pay attention to the facts.
According to most recent surveys (sources: Institut d' Estudis
Catalans 2011 and the Barometer of Communication and Culture
corresponding to 2010), the Catalan population is linguistically distributed as follows:
People whose mother tongue (or initial, in the vocabulary of the survey) is:
Castilian (or Spanish) …
Catalan
…
Other languages
…
56,7 %
35,3 %
7,6 %
The "exquisite balance" Mr. Ribó refers to is very far from reflecting this reality:
 In almost all public and private schools supported by public funds, the model
applied is a mandatory and early language immersion: Out of 25 hours per
week of school schedule, 16 hours are given in Catalan, 3 in Spanish and 3 in a
Foreign Language.
 This is in contradiction with the constitutional and statutory model for Catalonia
called language conjunction, meaning that both official languages have to be
used for teaching in a balanced way. But Catalan authorities are for
monolingualism in Catalan. So, those parents really interested in educating their
children in the bilingual model (the legal one!) have to go through Courts of
Justice, and when they get favorable rules, the Government ignores them.
(During the Symposium organized by the Ombusman, he has tried to confuse
participants stating that both models, immersion and conjunction, are the same).
 Programming inclusive bilingualism is not allowed. In official enrolment forms
for schools, there is no option for parents to apply for bilingual education.
Teaching only in Spanish is prohibited, whereas teaching only in Catalan is
sponsored by the political power.
 The absolute predominance of Catalan in schools has long been an objective for
Catalan nationalism. In most of them, signs are written exclusively in Catalan
and information for families is provided only in this language. Moreover, the
Catalan educational administration has signed agreements with the association
"Som Escola [We Are School]" that defends Catalan monolingualism, and
illegally displays in some schools banners with the motto: "Per una escola de
tots, escola en català [For a school for all, schooling in Catalan]". Teachers are
also allowed to distribute, among Spanish-speaking students, badges with the
motto "Parla'm sempre en català, tinc dret [Speak always in Catalan to me, I’ve
got the right]" and in
some
school
courtyards, there are
banners that read "Al pati, en Català [During break time, in Catalan]".
 Shops and businesses are fined if they label only in Spanish, but not if they do it
only in Catalan.
 Streets and public-centers signs are usually just in Catalan.
The Catalan Ombudsman defends only the Catalan language, not the people.
Its primary task seems to be what nationalism understands as the defense of Catalan,
instead of the safeguarding of the rights of individuals against abuses or misuses of the
Administration:
 Complaints from Spanish-speaking citizens related to their linguistic rights are
not recorded as complaints, but as “informative letters”.
 He has publically shown his
opposition to judicial review fostered
by the Spanish Ombudsman (at the
request of Catalan citizens and
organizations): 1) against the Statute
of Autonomy for declaring Catalan
as the preferred language of the
administration
and
education
(declared unconstitutional), 2) against the Consumer Code of Catalonia for
penalizing businesses labeling only in Spanish and not the ones using only
Catalan, and 3) against the Hosting Law for requiring all immigrants the
knowledge of Catalan in order to get their permit to reside in Catalonia.
 The Catalan Ombudsman has surrounded himself by a team of consultants who
have belonged to organizations defending Catalan as the only official language.
It is self-explanatory that he is sponsoring this symposium dedicated to linguistic
rights and social cohesion where he and all the local speakers use just Catalan
and ignore the language of approximately half of the people in Catalonia.
 The Catalan Ombudsman favors discrimination against Spanish speakers. Many
citizens in Catalonia do not trust him or his team and therefore hardly ever
present complaints to the institution that he represents.
Please, judge for yourselves.