Stories from Quick Reads and Catalan
Spain Regional Education Minister Steps in it with Translation Gaffe
Spain's Regional Minister of Education for the Balearic Islands, Joana Maria Camps (@joanamariacamps), has proven herself not very familiar with one of the most important studies on education: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). In a parliamentary session on November 21, she talked [ca]...
Spanish Police Attempt Dead-of-Night Shutdown of Valencia Public Broadcaster
The Valencian government, belonging to the conservative People's Party, has sent the police at 3 a.m. to shut down the regional public broadcaster Ràdio Televisió Valenciana (RTVV) [ca]. Since the government announced the decision to shut the broadcaster down on November 5, the journalists have been running both the radio...
“Catalan Independence” Explained in 16 Languages
The debut video of The Catalan Project (@Catalan_Project) features Fernando de Castro, “a Catalan from Galicia and Spanish”, presenting the project and explaining why some Catalans want independence from Spain using the 16 languages he is able to speak. Subtitles are available in English, French, German, Spanish and Catalan. The Catalan Project, an...
Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Praises Catalan Viquipèdia
During the Open Science conference at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium on October 24, 2013, Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales highlighted Viquipèdia, the Catalan Wikipedia, as a success story. A video on YouTube features the moment when Wales talks about Viquipèdia (transcript by Viquipèdia editor Arnau Duran): “…in some of our small...
Global Voices Català Wins at Catalonia Blog Awards
Global Voices Català has won [ca] an award at the Catalonia Blog Awards [ca] held annually in Catalonia by the association Societat de Tecnologia i Coneixement (STIC) [ca] (Technology and Knowledge Society) in the category of communications and new media. The awards ceremony was celebrated on September 28th, 2013, where journalist, blogger...
Catalans Get Ready for Another Massive Pro-independence Event
Catalan National Day, September 11, is just around the corner. The civic Association Col·lectiu Emma (@CollectiuEmma) has published a statement in English and 9 other languages on its blog. The text explains the current political situation in Catalonia (Spain's far north-east corner) and calls worldwide media to keep an eye...
Catalan Wikipedia Receives Official Recognition
Amical Wikimedia, the association that promotes Viquipedia, the Catalan Wikipedia, has got a chapter of its own within the international structure of the Wikimedia Foundation. This recognition comes after a five-year-long discussion to be recognized as representative of a unique language and culture, as previous criteria required chapters to represent...
Catalonia: Caution about Spain's Hostile Ways
A civic statement on Col·lectiu Emma (@CollectiuEmma)'s blog criticizes the way the Spanish government is dealing with the political situation in the region of Catalonia, where 55 % of the population favors independence [ca] from Spain, according to an official poll. The statement explains the “strategy of fear” and other...
Catalonia's Sovereignty Declaration Suspended
The Spanish Constitutional Court just suspended Catalonia's Declaration of Sovereignty, which the regional parliament of Catalonia approved by majority on 23 January, 2013. Amid rising tensions between Spain and Catalonia, the decision has generated strong reactions on offline and online media. Thanks to a diverse team of collaborators, the online...
@CatalanVoices Gives Voice to Catalonia
Every week, a different Catalan citizen or any person who lives or has lived in Catalonia (regardless of her/his nationality or citizenship) will tweet from the account @CatalanVoices to talk about what she or he likes, feels and thinks about Catalonia. What they share will also be published on the...
Crowdfunders Empty Pockets for Catalan Independence
‘L'endemà. Respostes per a decidir‘, a documentary project about Catalonia's potential independence from Spain, produced by Isona Passola [ca], earned a record-breaking €150,000 on the crowdfunding platform Verkami on February 15, 2013. Passola, who produced the award-winning film Pa Negre [ca], hoped to reach that amount in 40 days, but reached that goal in just eleven....
An Online Campaign Demands Quality Journalism from La Vanguardia
The Catalan Association for Scientific Communication, the Spanish Association of Scientific Communication and the Society for the Progression of Critical Thinking have started an Internet campaign via online petition platform Change.org asking for scientific accuracy in La Vanguardia, one of the widest circulated Catalan newspapers and part of the Grupo...
Spain: Catalonia's “Declaration of Sovereignty” Translated into 36 Languages
On January 23, 2013, amid rising tensions with the Spanish government, the regional parliament of Catalonia approved by majority vote a Declaration of Sovereignty [ca] — seen widely as a prelude to a referendum on independence, expected to be held by 2014. Thanks to a diverse team of collaborators, the online...
Minister Wert Sparks Humour on the Net
An article on online newspaper Núvol with the title “Send up #Wert” [ca] collects discussions, cartoons, jokes and word games inspired by statements and the education law reform proposed by Spanish Minister José Ignacio Wert.
The world viewed through 3054 languages in danger of extinction
Endangered Languages is a project started by Google which provides technology to individuals and organisations so that they can tackle the threat of certain languages becoming extinct. The page contains information, learning materials and text files, sound and video in languages including Aragonese, Ainu, Navajo and Catalan sign language gathered from...
Spain: St. George's Day, Catalan Culture and Protest
Saint George's Day (Diada de Sant Jordi in Catalan) is a unique celebration in Catalonia. Tradition holds that the festival revolves around roses and books. April 23rd has always been a day of protest in the name of Catalan language and culture. This year will see more protest than ever because people will...
Spain: Electricity Cut Off for one School in Alicante
Power was cut off [ca] for 800 pupils in a secondary school in Alicante due to outstanding payments. The Valencian Community is currently mired in financial difficulties after years of extravagant spending. MPs Esther López Barceló [ca] from the United and Alternative Left and Mireia Mollà [ca] from the Coalicío...
Catalonia: From Arab Spring To Islamic Autumn
Pepe Nieto from SODEPAU, a Catalan international aid organization, published a post entitled: “From the Arab Spring to the Islamic Autumn” [cat]. Nieco forecasts that political Islam will be the great benefactor of the recent events unfolding in the Arab world, after the elections in Tunisia and the statements from the...
