Government proposes Catalan language criteria for migrants' residence permit renewals

The Catalan government will submit an amendment to the decree proposed by the Spanish government on the extraordinary regularisation of migrants, so that knowledge of Catalan is taken into account at the first renewal of residence permits.

The proposal establishes that people who are regularised will have one year to begin learning the official languages of the different autonomous communities.

The Minister for Language Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila, said that the idea is that, when those who have now joined the regularisation process apply to renew their permits in a year's time, the start of their language learning process should be taken into account. 

In his view, this should be done through proof of knowledge, either by having taken courses organised by the Catalan government or by having learned the language independently.

"We want to emphasise that learning the language is a real tool for integration," Vila underlined, adding that the government "wants to provide resources so that everyone who wants to has access to learning Catalan."

National Pact for the Language

The decision was taken at the first follow-up meeting of the National Pact for the Language, a broad agreement between the Catalan government, parliamentary parties and major civil society organisations aimed at promoting the use of Catalan. 

The goal is to strengthen linguistic integration as a tool for social cohesion and to consolidate Catalan as a language of inclusion and full participation.

So far, the National Pact for the Language has gained the support of 226 municipalities in Catalonia, representing 62.41% of thepopulation. 

Among the municipalities backing the pact are Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Tarragona.

An investment of more than three million

The Catalan government has invested over €3 million in the first year of the Department of Language Policy, created to promote and strengthen the use of Catalan, expanding staff and launching several programmes linked to the National Pact for the Language.

The measures include boosting Catalan teaching, strengthening language requirements in public services, education and healthcare, supporting the use of Catalan in the workplace and culture, and expanding training, certification and promotion of the language in Catalonia and abroad.