Language rule bars hundreds from public jobs
Union denounces exclusion of 180 candidates in Denia alone through not having Valenciano qualifications
AT LEAST 180 candidates have been automatically excluded from public sector jobs in Denia alone due to being unable to show Valenciano language qualifications, according to unions.
Despite Spain's Constitution stating that all residents in the country must have equal access and consideration in the recruitment process for government and council employment, those in the Valencia region have to prove they can speak, read and write the co-official language to degree standard.
According to the public sector employees' union (SEP), 'hundreds' of applicants have been barred on these grounds – many of whom are already in the jobs in question.
When positions need to be filled quickly, staff are sometimes taken on without meeting the full list of requirements, such as the official public sector exams (oposiciones) but can only be kept on for a set period of time, typically one to three years.
They then have to join the remaining applicants in order to keep their jobs.
Rules out foreigners and people born elsewhere in Spain
“Many of those excluded are from generations who never had access to teaching in Valenciano, but are still able to speak it to a greater or lesser degree,” the SEP complains.
Schooling in Valenciano was not mainstream in the region until the 1990s, and remains optional, meaning many pupils in the region are still taught exclusively in the national language, Castilian Spanish.
Even native speakers of Valenciano are required to have passed a language exam at level C1 – the second-highest and the equivalent of someone who holds an undergraduate degree in it.
“Also, the Valenciano official qualification requirement automatically rules out applicants who were born in other parts of the country, or from abroad,” the SEP states.
This is 'unconstitutional' and 'discrimination', which is 'illegal', the union recalls.
“The 180 in Denia eliminated from the recruitment process includes many who have already been working for the council for years,” noted the union.
“Also, the true figure is likely to be much higher, because many will not have applied in the first place if they knew they could not produce the Valenciano qualifications needed.”
In recent years, reports of 'linguistic exclusion' have included teachers of English as a foreign language, and of a Dutch woman who lost her receptionist job at Valencia university, despite being fluent in Spanish, because she was unable to speak Valenciano to a visitor.