The controversy over the normative Valencian resurfaces in the Valencian Community after the arrival of the PP and Vox

Monastery of San Miguel de los Reyes, seat of the Valencian Language Academy (AVL)NIUS

The linguistic peace experienced in the Valencian Community in the last two decades has been altered in recent weeks, curiously from the Consell itself, making revive a debate that already seemed forgottendenying that Valencian and Catalan are two denominations of the same language.

The controversy arose on August 23, when the Ministry of Agriculture, in the hands of Vox, published a message on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, with the agenda of the minister, José Luis Aguirre, written in Spanish and in non-standardized Valencian, full of misspellings. A message in which you could read: “José Luis Aguirre analyzes the execution of ongoing projects in the Tragsa Group”, which in normative Valencian is written “José Luis Aguirre analyzes the execution of ongoing projects with the Tragsa Group” , and that caused a cascade of comments criticizing the language used and which was finally deleted by the Ministry itself.

However, the debate on the linguistic conflict was already served and the reactions have not stopped happening both politically and socially among those who defend the legitimacy of the Valencian Language Academy (AVL)either PSPV, Compromís or the Platform for Language, and those like the president of the Valencian Parliament, Llanos Massó, from the Vox group, advocate the rules of the Puigfollowed by the Real Academy of Valencian Culture (RACV) and that they point out, as Massó herself declared, that “Valencian is not Catalan and the authentic Valencian is that of the Puig standards”.

The Valencian in the Congress of Deputies

Days before the tweet from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Valencian jumped to the first national news line, to not be picked up together with Catalan, Basque and Galicianas one of the co-official languages ​​that from now on will be used in the Congress of Deputies at the request of the executive of Pedro Sánchez, and as part of the agreement with Junts.

The reactions were not long in coming from the new Consell formed by PP and Vox, very attentive to identity issues, which described the non-inclusion of the Valencian as a serious affront and announced the drafting of an institutional declaration in defense of the Valencian. “In the Community, only Valencian is spoken; it is called Valencian and it comes in the Statute, and wanting to play with the identity signs of others, with Països Catalans and interpretations that have nothing to do with our identity signs, they will not have my support,” said the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón.

In this line, Mazón pointed out that when the president of Congress, Francina Armengol; the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez or Ximo Puig “do not introduce Valencian as another co-official language in Congress, they are making a mistake or when they say it is called something else, that does not help to respect all sensitivities”.

The Valencian Language Academy

After almost half a century of linguistic conflict, in 2001, with Eduardo Zaplana as president of the Generalitat, created the Valencian Academy of Languagethanks to a pact between PP and PSPV-PSOE. Five years later, in 2006, the Statute of Autonomy recognized this organism as the only one competent in the regulation of the Valencian language, pointing out that its regulations had to be followed by all public bodies. In addition, the institution settled that Valencian is a “Romance language that is spoken in the Valencian Community” and in other geographies as well as in Catalonia or the Balearic Islands “where it receives the name of Catalan”, putting an end to the theses of the RACVwho argue that the Valencian and Catalan are different languages.

And consensus that has not taken long to break with the arrival of Vox to the Valencian institutions, whose position was validated by the PP itself, through the Minister of Education, José Antonio Rovirawhich defended last week that the Ministry of Agriculture had the “freedom to choose its rules” and write a non-normative Valenciansince in his opinion the AVL does not have the “absolute truth about the Valencian”.

A position that has been harshly criticized from the oppositionbut also for historical members of the PP, like the one who was Minister of Education with Zaplana, Fernando Villalonga, who was behind the creation of the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Mazón: “The entire Consell recognizes the authority of the AVL”

Faced with the controversy unleashed, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, has been forced to pronounce and has defended this Monday the authority of the AVL in relation to the Valencian. Mazón has ensured that the entire Consell recognizes the “academic and scientific authority” of this statutory body.

However, the Valencian top leader pointed out that “in recent years gestures of integration and sensitivity have been needed” because “social and political Valencianism has felt too far removed from the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, for which reason we must open a new stage of dialogue and concord“. In his opinion, this is not “at odds” with “academic authority” but he maintains that “we cannot allow there to be Valencians who do not feel endorsed and protected by the AVL itself”.

To open this new stage of “dialogue, harmony and sensitivity”, Mazón has contacted contact the president of the Valencian Language Academy (AVL), Verònica Cantó, with whom she will hold a meeting on September 11.

A meeting, before which Mazón has assured that will come with “broad vision” and with an “approximate” idea of the “gestures” that it will ask you. “I have an approximate idea of ​​some gestures that I would make, but I want to treat this with respect and I do not want to predispose a meeting that has not yet taken place”, highlighted the head of the Consell, who added that “the dignified, the loyal, institutional and constructive” is to transfer directly to the academy which are the ways in which it believes that progress can be made.

“I believe that progress can and should be made and I believe that we can all do more, and it is time to raise it in a constructive and integrating tone. This, without a doubt, will be a quite evident change in relation to the Botànic years”, Mazón concluded.

Vox rectifies halfway

The Vox trustee in Les Corts, Ana Vega, has assured that her party “always” will respect “current legislation” regarding the use of the co-official languages ​​in the Valencian Community, while refusing to enter into the “sterile controversy” generated in recent days: “We are going to defend our own regional language, which is Valencian, against interference from the Catalanism,” said Vega.

However, the trustee He has not ruled on the messages published by the ministers of his party as the first vice president and head of Culture, Vicente Barrera: “I don’t make messages in Valencian, I do them in Spanish, we will have to ask whoever does them”.

Neither has he valued the affirmation of the president of Les Corts, Llanos Massó (Vox), in favor of the Puig Rules, because it is what her formation has “always” defended and, according to her, it represents “the opinion of one person” and not that of the entire institution. “I want to make it clear, there is no more controversy,” she said.

What has not been clarified either is whether the ministries managed by Vox are going to publish their communications in the autochthonous language, as required by the Law on the Use of Valencianand limited herself to pointing out that “some times she will tweet in Spanish and other times in Valencian” and that “we will have to ask the councilors” because she is not in the Consell.