The linguistic problem continues to make a dent in the Valencian Community. In recent weeks there have been different episodes of alleged discrimination for speaking one of the two official languages of the region. Specifically, the three most recent complaints have taken place in the health field. The latest, that of a popular tiktoker who reports that he has been neglected at the Sagunto Emergency Hospital for speaking Valencian.
Xavi Rico, known on social networks as @ApitxatTikTok, denounces that they have denied medical care for expressing himself in his mother tongue. "They told me that no one from the center could wait for me if I continued to speak in my language, in my town," he narrated on his Twitter account.
The young man, also a medical student, describes the situation as "outraged" and has already informed the Platform of the Language of the alleged discrimination, at the same time that Rubén Trenzano, general director of Language Policy of the Generalitat, has offered it the services of the Office of Linguistic Rights. In addition, other entities such as Escola Valenciana have also addressed the patient to offer advice.
I have been to the urgències and have refused medical attention for speaking in Valencia. M'han says that none of the center could wait if he continued to speak in the meua lengua, al meu poble. Indignant.
– Apitxat (@ApitxatTiktok) November 3, 2022
The repercussion that the Valencian tiktoker's tweet has registered shows the disparity of opinions that surrounds the controversy over the linguistic requirement for civil servants. More than many of the Twitter users support his complaint, others emphasize that in a medical emergency situation, adequate health care is more important than the language used.
Complaints in Health
During the last month, the number of complaints for alleged linguistic discrimination in the Valencian Health has substantially warned. Last October, a patient was fined 600 euros for having "altered the proper functioning of a health center" in Alfafar, for his doctor having spoken in Valencian, who denounced him for not addressing him in Spanish.
This sanction was based on the Organic Law for the Protection of Citizen Security, better known as the Gag Law; however, the Government Delegation in the Valencian Community confirmed that the case was going to be reviewed and that the accused could present allegations. Likewise, the Minister of Health, Miguel Mínguez, wanted to play down the matter, alluding that "it is highly likely that the doctor had been there for a short time, that he was not from our environment and did not have the ability to take an anamnesis in Valencian."
Just ten days later, a new patient denounced a case of linguistic discrimination in an outpatient clinic in Alicante, where an administrative officer supposedly forced him to address her in Spanish if he wanted to be treated: “Either you speak to me in Spanish or we will not be able to wait for your daughter «.
In this regard, the platform of the Escola Valenciana raised a complaint to the Síndic de Greuges -equivalent to the Ombudsman-, to the Office of Linguistic Rights of the Generalitat and to the Ministry of Health, a department that has denied the facts. The entity itself has filed a complaint for alleged linguistic discrimination to the Síndic de Greuges -equivalent to the Valencian Ombudsman-, to the Office of Linguistic Rights of the Generalitat and to the Department of Health itself.
However, the department headed by Miguel Mínguez has denied the facts and has assured that no employee of the San Blas health center denied assistance to any patient last Friday, October 21. "It is not admissible that they make you choose between caring for your daughter or being able to express yourself in your own language," the entity condemned.
For its part, the association Hablamos Español has demanded that the Generalitat comply with the signage law in Spanish for health centers and hospitals in the Valencian Community, based on the Spanish Constitution, Constitutional Court rulings and international treaties ratified by Spain. .
On this issue, the group considers that "the Public Administration, when developing specific language standardization policies, has to find the right point of balance between the needs to promote and promote the official and social use of the co-official language of the autonomous, and the linguistic rights recognized to all the citizens of this Autonomous Community, whatever their linguistic reality”.
