The national government delegation in the Balearics is to appeal against the Balearic government's decree that requires knowledge of Catalan by health service workers. The appeal is to be presented to the Balearic High Court and cites a breach of Article 43 of the Spanish Constitution, which has to do with health rights.
Maria Salom, the delegate, is responding to a request for an appeal from three Spanish government ministers, including the vice-president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. They have considered findings of the state attorney's office, which point to possible non-compliance with the Constitution.
The Balearic government's insistence on employees in the health service having specific levels of Catalan has not only caused a row with political parties on the right. The medical profession is against the demands and is understood to have been informing Madrid as to the contents of the decree. Unions reject the requirements, and so - it would seem - do the public at large. A recent poll by the Balearic Institute of Social Studies revealed 82% opposition.
The Balearic health minister, Patricia Gómez, faced questions on this issue in parliament on Tuesday. The Partido Popular's Vicent Serra accused the government of causing the "unstoppable" departure of doctors because of its language policy.
Gómez responded by saying that no Catalan certificate has been required of a doctor working in the Balearics. She argued that the government decree allows all health service professionals to be included in recruitment processes and called on Serra to stop "using demagoguery" and engaging in "speech of fear".