La situació lingüística a partir de l'Estatut d'autonomia de les Illes Balears

Abstract

The advances in the recovery of the Catalan language in the Balearic Islands over the 20 years in which the Statute of Autonomy, passed in 1983, has been in effect have been nothing short of historic. This paper analyzes the positive changes that have come about in this period regarding the legal regulation of the social use of language, social awareness, language authority, and the social and official use of language. On the other hand, it also analyzes the limitations of the legal framework itself, the social and political limitations that have prevented attainment of the full language normalcy contemplated in this legal and institutional framework. At a time when a significant wave of immigrants is joining immigrants who already reside in the Balearics, when immigration and globalization characterize a new framework for social relations, knowledge of Catalan is still not universal, nor has Catalan become the common, habitually used language of the public sector. The paper, then, sets forth the broad outlines of an action plan for the new historic phase that is now under way, a phase that entails challenges for the Catalan language in the Balearics. How these challenges are met shall depend on the achievement of an overall framework of language sustainability capable of facilitating the egalitarian recognition of Catalan in Spanish central government, European and international domains. Successfully dealing with these challenges shall also depend on the cohesiveness of the entire Catalan language area. The transmission of the language to newly arrived citizens and the presence of Catalan in mass culture and the workplace as an ordinary state of affairs should be the fundamental objectives of a language policy capable of mobilizing society and generating confidence in the future.