Dear Sir, I ALSO feel that Mr Tunnell does not really understand the real situation in regards to politicians and Mallorquin. The only party that is behind the promoting, which should really be described as enforcing the Catalan language, in many ways different from the local Mallorquin language, is the PSM, a local Socialist and Nationalistic party, which if it were taking part in the UK elections would be trounced by Screaming Lord Sutch, but due to the peculiarity of the Spanish system of electing government representatives can sometimes hold the key to the door, therefore being in a position to demand whatever ministry they choose, in this case culture and education.
I won't go into any more local details but suffice to say that in the latest regional elections, both the Galician National Party and the Basque National Party lost power mainly due to the electorates distaste in having the regional languages forced down their throats and not being able to choose the language in which they would prefer their children to be educated in. This has got nothing to do with conserving culture and promoting language. It is an attempt to create an us and them society.
In my opinion, the PP party in Majorca is dithering about this and not saying clearly what their equals in Galicia and Basque country have said: enough is enough, and if they don't make it clear where they stand, will cost them votes in the long term.
I agree that Franco did not allow people to be educated in any regional languages, and that all official paperwork was also in Castellano, something I and many others agree with and makes sense. Do I suspect that Mr Tunnell would have approved of these policies if Franco had been a left wing dictator?
And finally, don't worry Mr Tunnell, Mallorquin will survive for centuries without any help or hindrance from the authorities. The very fact that it is spoken and understood by the majority of the local population who were never taught it at school, must be food for thought.
Yours sincerely,
Simon Tow
Santa Ponsa
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