On Tuesday September 19, the Spanish Parliament adopted a reform allowing Basque, Catalan and Galician deputies to express themselves in their language within the hemicycle. The result of political bargaining, this reform allowed the Socialists to take the lead in the Congress of Deputies, a first step in the fight which opposes them to the conservatives after the elections of July 2023, the results of which did not allow any party to obtain a majority.

To finally break the deadlock and present their candidate Pedro Sanchez for the nomination, and the socialists wish to rally the separatists, who have set their support at a high price: the amnesty of its leaders prosecuted since the 2017 referendum This referendum, organized by the Catalan regional government with the help of independence associations, was declared illegal by the Constitutional Court, and led to the imprisonment or flight of separatist leaders.

Pablo Simon explains to us the challenges of this reform, which has both symbolic and political significance.

Pablo Simon is professor of political science at the Department of Social Sciences at the Carlos III University of Madrid. He is a specialist in parties, systems and electoral behavior in Spain.

Le Figaro. – In your opinion, what will be the consequences of this reform? Will they increase tensions and fuel separatist desires?

Pablo Simon – In my opinion, no. There are many countries in the world where multilingual parliaments exist, such as Canada, Belgium or Switzerland. This is not an unusual phenomenon within a democracy. And Spanish politics is distinguished by the fact that some of its parties are only present in specific territories. For me, this reform has several dimensions. The first is its symbolic dimension. In plenary sessions, individuals who wish will now be able to express themselves in the other languages ​​that exist in Spain, in addition to Castilian. Moreover, this has already been the case in the Senate for ten years, even if few people know it, and that poses no problem.

In fact, this will not really change the functioning of Parliament. The majority of professions use Castilian to work, because it is the language used by everyone. We must therefore expect rapid normalization, and from time to time an MP will speak in another language. This should not cause an increase in desire for independence; on the contrary, people who speak other languages ​​receive the message that they are Spanish, just like those who speak Castilian.

What political strategy of Pedro Sanchez does this reform fit into?

This reform is part of the political pact necessary for the socialists for the formation of the current Congress. It was fundamental for left-wing groups to be able to count on the support of independence groups, both Catalan and Basque. As part of this pact, concessions were made. One of them was to help the separatists obtain their own parliamentary group, which they could not obtain alone. And another part of this political compromise was to allow the use of different languages.

In my opinion, the subject of amnesty is negotiated in parallel, and does not depend on the reform of languages ​​in the hemicycle. The theme of amnesty is more linked to the upcoming inauguration.

We cannot say that they granted the use of other languages ​​in order to avoid the question of amnesty. The negotiation of the latter will depend on future political developments, and for the moment it is impossible to know whether a negotiation is in progress. It is likely that discussions on the issue will begin next week, once the inauguration session of Alberto Nuñez Feijoo is over. Because he will not succeed in obtaining a majority, therefore Pedro Sanchez will emerge as the new candidate and will in turn try to form a majority. This is where the issue of amnesty will play an important role.

Also read: Catalan amnesty, Spanish inconsistencies

The popular party, which will soon attempt the nomination, faces a paradox. Its leaders know that they are not going to come to power, but they are still organizing a demonstration this Sunday against the amnesty that Pedro Sanchez seems to be negotiating with the separatists, even though Pedro Sanchez is not the candidate designated by the king for the investiture. The popular party is aware of the centrality of the issue of amnesty, which everyone has been talking about for almost two weeks, which explains the organization of this demonstration on Sunday.

Also read: How the Spanish left surfed on the fantasy of the far right to mobilize its electorate

Yesterday, European Ministers for European Affairs debated the recognition of Catalan, Basque and Galician as official languages ​​of the European Union (EU). Did the Spanish reform impact these discussions?

These are two different things. The government approved the reform in Parliament in a bid to gain more leverage to argue its case at European level, however approving a new language within the EU requires unanimity among the 27 countries . So far, no one has opposed it head-on, and all have asked for more time. But the procedures differ, each country defends its interests, certain languages ​​may be considered more qualified than others…. moreover, the Spanish government has indicated that it wishes to give priority to Catalan. This is because more people speak it, but also because Catalan is the language of the parties whose government requires support for the nomination.