Unhappy Catalans

Nationless.com blog discusses issues related to nations without a state. A post last week refers to the negative campaigning in Catalonia ( students at the University of Barcellona where among the most vocal) over the European Constitution. The reason: Why should the language of tiny Malta be officially recognised by Brussels but not Catalan - a language spoken by millions of EU citizens. Despite the Catalan protests, the referendum was successful. From Nationless.com:

Oana Lungescu reports via the BBC, Catalan concerns over EU vote, that, although the Spanish government is pushing hard for ratification of the EU constitution via public referendum, there is resistance in Catalonia: But in regions such as Catalonia, some see it as an opportunity to send a political signal not to Brussels, but to the Spanish government in Madrid. Although regions like Catalonia already enjoy a large degree of autonomy, with control over culture, education and health, Catalan nationalists want more - a greater voice for what they call “stateless nations” in Europe and official EU status for their languages.

After all, they argue, Catalan is spoken by around 10 million people, more than the population of several new EU member states like Malta, Estonia or Slovakia. Pilar Dellunde, a regional MP for the Republican Left Party, says Europe should stay true to the motto of the constitution - “United in Diversity.” “We want Catalonia to become an independent state within a federal Europe, so the first step is for our language to be recognised in this treaty,” Ms Dellunde says.

Spanish voters approve EU Constitution

Ironically, Maltese translators in Brussels are co-ordinated by a Catalan