Catalan Party Alhora Models Andorran Linguistic Protections

Catalan political party Alhora is taking Andorra's opposition groups, especially Concòrdia, as a model for advancing linguistic protections amid pressure on the government to reinforce Catalan language policies.

Júlia Ojeda, the party's vice-president and a researcher at the University of the Balearic Islands, expressed this during her visit to Andorra this week. She presented Manuel de Pedrolo's *Prosa de combat* at La Trenca bookshop and gave statements to the Andorran News Agency (ANA).

For about two years, Ojeda explained, Alhora has tracked the opposition's push to tighten the government's stance. She hailed Andorra as a trailblazer among Catalan-speaking areas for its so-called "Catalan law," which requires officials to handle language disputes directly. "For the first time, Andorra has positioned itself on the map of Catalan-speaking countries with a bold linguistic policy," she said.

Ojeda urged other regions to lead by example and strengthen their own rules. She stressed that linguistic rights need clear legal backing to define offences like hate crimes or language-based discrimination. "When someone faces targeting over gender or skin colour, it's widely seen as a crime, but that's not yet the case with language," she added.

While praising the law, Ojeda noted its flaws, including poor government communication on sanctions. She highlighted distinctions between complaints and formal reports, issues with reporting apps, and an emphasis on warnings over punishments, which can create public confusion.

Abandoning Catalan, she warned, would erase the region's literature, authors, and even traditional names for Andorra's mountains. "I don't know who would want to live in a world like that, but I won't," she concluded.