The Igualada City Council has created a new department for the Promotion of the Catalan Language, which will be led by councillor Maribel Cuadras, who will also oversee Institutional Relations and Twinning.
The Igualada City Council has launched a new department dedicated to the promotion of the Catalan language. Councillor Maribel Cuadras will be responsible for this area, which adds to her responsibilities in Institutional Relations and Twinning. Cuadras, who previously served as a councillor during the 2015-2019 term, returns to the council with the aim of promoting municipal language policies.
The councillor explained that the new department arises from the desire to consolidate and give visibility to the work already being done by the City Council in favour of Catalan. “I return to the council with all my energy and a strong desire to continue working for Igualada, our language, and the ties of our city with the twinned municipalities,” Cuadras stated.
The creation of this department responds, according to municipal sources, to the need for a firm response in the current linguistic context. The main objective will be to define and direct the city's language policy, ensuring the linguistic rights of citizens and promoting the social use of Catalan as a cohesive element.
Among the planned lines of action, the development of a Local Language Plan stands out, which will take the National Language Pact as a reference. This plan is intended to serve as a roadmap for municipal actions in the linguistic field.
There will also be cross-departmental coordination with all departments to incorporate linguistic criteria into public procurement, subsidies, agreements, and municipal services. In addition, awareness-raising, training, and promotion programmes for Catalan aimed at all citizens will be launched.
In the field of institutional cooperation, the new department will promote relations with other administrations, entities, and organisations in the sector. Maribel Cuadras will also take on the portfolios of Institutional Relations and Twinning, from where the link between Igualada and other institutions will be strengthened, as well as the ties of cooperation and cultural exchange with the twinned cities.
The creation of this department represents another step in the language policy of the Igualada council, which has already developed previous actions in this area. With the new structure, the aim is to give a coordinated and visible boost to initiatives in favour of Catalan.
The residents of Igualada will be able to learn more details about the planned actions as the different axes of the Local Language Plan are developed. The department plans to open channels for citizen participation to gather contributions from citizens and entities.
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