- The cultural groups of the Basque Country of Pamplona and the Observatory of Linguistic Rights have launched the campaign "The Municipalities with me in Basque" with the aim of highlighting the violations of the linguistic rights of the City of Pamplona. For this purpose, they ask the citizens to share the experiences of the last year, that they cannot communicate in Basque with the city council or that leisure and cultural activities are only in Spanish, as an example. Contributions will be received until 31 January.
The campaign “City Councils with Basque Country” has been presented in Pamplona for citizens to share the violations of linguistic rights suffered by the city council. Organized by the cultural groups of the Basque Country of Pamplona (AEK, AET, ELA, Parents of Children's Schools, IKA, LAB, Sortzen, STEILAS, Zaldiko Maldives) and the Observatory of Linguistic Rights, which consider it the municipal responsibility to guarantee the conditions to be able to live in Basque daily.
They denounce that there is no positive attitude towards Euskera, and that the city "rejects the citizens who want to live in Euskera". First, in the ordinance of the Basque city, the Basque does not equate to Spanish. The services are not guaranteed in terms of equality, with less dissemination of news in Euskera, as well as in the entertainment and culture offers in which there is hardly any possibility to do so in Euskera, or in the municipal public events in which the Basque country has hardly any presence.
Thus, the following exercise is proposed to citizens: To report on the violations of the linguistic rights received by the City of Pamplona in the last year, so that the Basque cultural activity and the Observatory can be included in a report presented to the municipal authorities and incorporated into the reading of Euskal Herria.
What are the violations of language rights? The coordinators of the activity have given examples to the citizens: to call a municipal telephone and not be able to attend in Euskera; to receive a communication or letter from the city council only in Spanish; to have most of the municipal announcements in Spanish; or to find difficulties to perform leisure activities in Euskera.
They call for more detailed information on each case: date, department of origin and, if possible, documents and photographs to be sent. They will receive contributions until 31 January.
For the activity “The municipalities with me in Basque” the following paths have been opened:
- Email: telefonoa@behatokia.eus
- Whatsapp:623 363 811.
- Telephone: 948 14 61 72.
- We will also receive them from social networks, on Twitter, with the tag @Treasury Euskalg or with the hashtag #Udala
They encourage citizens to use and empower Euskera with public administrations to report violations of rights they have suffered.