Government considers more Catalan courses after large-scale migrant regularisation programme

The government is considering increasing the amount of Catalan courses due to the possible increase in demand after the extraordinary migrant regularisation programme earlier this year.

"Now we are offering courses, and if there is more demand than expected, we can hire [more teachers]," explained the Minister of Language Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila, in an interview with Rac1 on Sunday. 

The comments come after a total of 257,000 people applied for the programme in Catalonia, the most applications of any autonomous community in Spain. The programme seeks to offer migrants already living in Spain an easier process to obtain residence and work permits, therefore allowing them to live and work legally. 

After being asked about the possible growth in demand as a result of the migrant regularisation programme, Vila said that the government "has been preparing for some time" to respond to this increase. However, he highlighted that since 2021 the amount of courses and the number of people registered has doubled.

The Consortium for Language Normalization (CPNL) opens its registration period this Monday with just over 48,000 places, the highest figure to date. 

The minister called the classes a "fundamental tool" for integration, since xenophobia is born from a "lack of social cohesion."

"A commitment to Catalan must be 'shared,'" he said, "[they are] a basic place for linguistic integration." 

In the area of ​​customer service, Vila said that companies themselves have the most interest in ensuring their employees speak the language. "This is a dynamic that we are accelerating," he said.