An entity will request that the 25% ruling be executed after the Government's response

The president of the Gover, Pere Aragonès, together with his advisers this Saturday.Lorena Sopêna (Europa Press)

The Assembly for a Bilingual School (AEB) will present a document this Tuesday before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) to ask it to force the Catalan Government to comply with the ruling that sets 25% of teaching hours in Spanish in education.

It will do so on behalf of more than 1,500 families and with the support of other entities such as the Catalan Civil Society or Impulso Ciudadano.

On Friday, the Generalitat sent the court a document with which it intends to convince it that it is taking steps in line with the ruling, despite the fact that it does not set any percentage for Spanish.

The AEB considers this response insufficient, so it will urge the forced execution of the ruling and will request the TSJC to adopt "measures" to guarantee that it is complied with.

“The response of the Generalitat is a joke.

They do not provide any proof that they have complied or will comply with the sentence, ”explains Ana Losada, president of the entity that has struggled, through the courts, to guarantee the presence of Castilian in the classrooms of Catalonia.

On Saturday, Losada collected signatures of support, under a light rain, on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona.

“I don't think the court will be satisfied with those arguments.

The sentence is very clear, ”she says.

The ruling issued in December 2020 by the TSJC became final two months ago.

On Friday, the deadline to execute it voluntarily expired and the Generalitat sent a text to the court explaining that the legislative changes underway guarantee the presence of the Castilian and that the sentence can be considered fulfilled without the need for percentages.

The Government reasons that the ongoing reform of the Language Policy Law, which dates back to 1998, normalizes the use of Spanish in the classroom.

It adds that the Department of Education has initiated the procedures to prepare a decree on the linguistic regime in the educational system.

It is also supported by studies —such as a survey by the Síndic de Greuges— that indicate that the use of Spanish at school is in no way “residual”.

The entities doubt that the court will accept the Government's approach.

“It has no chance of prospering.

The execution of a sentence must be in its own terms, and 25% is very clear, ”says José Domingo, member and legal adviser of the AEB and president of Impulso Ciudadano.

Once the term to make the sentence effective voluntarily has expired, the parties to the process may request its forced execution.

In this case, the only party present is the State Attorney, acting on behalf of the Ministry of Education, which filed the initial claim at the PP stage.

The Government of Pedro Sánchez has not yet clarified its decision.

But, in addition, the law of the contentious field allows any "person affected" by the decision, whether natural or legal, to take the step as long as the court considers that he has the legitimacy to do so.

The Assembly for a Bilingual School is the one that is in the best position to have that legitimacy recognized and that is why it will be the one that presents the demand.

Its purposes include "promoting the advantages of bilingualism in society", "fostering teaching in the two official languages ​​and one foreign language in the education system" and "representing and defending the interests of its associates" before the administration and courts, recalls Domingo.

The lawsuit prepared by the AEB will answer point by point the allegations of the Department of Education and will ask the court for "concrete measures to enforce" the sentence, says Domingo in a telephone conversation, who is reluctant to specify them.

In addition to the announcement of legislative changes -changes in the Language Policy Law, a decree on the linguistic regime prepared by the Department of Education-, the communication from the Generalitat to the TSJC also refers to various studies.

These reports would prove, according to the Government, that the use of Spanish does not occupy a merely residual space.

He cites, for example, a survey carried out by the Catalan

, Rafael Ribó, which ensures that Catalan is used during 66% of the school day and Spanish, during 33%.

Ana Losada is critical of the survey because it also takes into account the use of languages ​​outside the classroom (for example, in the playground), which can lead to distorted results.