High Court rules 25% of a primary school class in Cubelles' lessons must be in Spanish

Catalonia's High Court ruled on Thursday that 25% of the lessons in one class group in a primary school in Cubelles, south of Barcelona, have to be taught in Spanish.

The Court accepted a family appeal and annulled the school's language immersion program as it says that "despite Spanish being an official language, as Catalan, it is not considered as a working language" in the school.

The verdict recognizes the right to be taught in Spanish and imposes a 25% proportion. 

A similar ruling in a Canet de Mar school

The Catalan high court imposed on December 10, 2021, that a school in Canet de Mar, a seaside down around 40km north of Barcelona, complies with the recent court ruling that says that at least 25% of classes must be done through Spanish. 

Since December 9, 25% of the lessons of a P5 class – 5-year-olds – are no longer in Catalan, after the family of a single student requested it and judges agreed.

Yet, the Catalan government and several families of students who will be affected by the judicial decision have sided flatly against it. 

Podcast

Check out our recent podcast on the decline in the use of the Catalan language in Catalonia, including a section explaining the current conflict over the immersion system in schools.

Catalonia's immersion system

When Catalonia recovered its self-rule in the late 1970s after 40 years of a fascist dictatorship, its new authorities decided that classes in Catalan, rather than a choice between Catalan and Spanish, would ensure that students end their studies speaking both languages – considering that the latter is learned in society because it is the most widely used one and is studied as a language at school.

After 40 years of this Catalan immersion system, the language is understood by 94.4% of the country's population. Some 81% can speak it, 85% can read it and 65% can write it, with 64% saying they have a good command of all skills – all abilities are mastered by 97% of the population in Catalonia or more when it comes to Spanish, which suggests the system works in order to guarantee a high level of both tongues.

According to the Plataforma per la Llengua lobby which promotes the use of Catalan, 82% of residents support the immersion system.