Political conflict over language in school

Fierce political conflict has erupted in Spain after a family in Catalonia was harassed for demanding that a quarter of the lessons at the school attended by their five-year-old son be in Spanish.

The action of that family caused an angry reaction from certain Catalan nationalists who consider their position an attack on the language and culture of the region, writes the British "Guardian".

According to the media, the family became the subject of a group established on the WhatsApp platform, which suggested that the child and parents be identified. One person tweeted that their house should be stoned, while another called for the boy to be ostracized, adding: “Other kids should leave class when it's in Spanish. If we don't react, our language will kill us".

Late last week, the Catalan High Court ordered the regional education ministry and the school principal in the town of Canet de Mar to take measures to protect the boy and his identity.

During a visit to the school last Thursday, Josep Gonzalez Cambri, Minister of Education in the pro-independence regional government - said he condemned "any kind of threat of violence". However, he criticized the decision of the higher court of Catalonia to order 25 percent of lectures to be in Spanish as an "unacceptable attack", adding: "The Catalan school is an example of success, which guarantees us social cohesion, equality and equal opportunities".

In 1983, the Parliament of Catalonia adopted a law to preserve the identity and autonomy of the region in relation to the rest of Spain. Catalan was then declared an official language - after four decades of being banned under the dictatorship Francisco Franco.