The Vives Network of Universities in defence of Valencian in the city of Alacant

The General Council of the Vives Network of Universities, made up of the rectors of the 22 member universities, has agreed to adhere itself to the communiqué promoted by the Department of Catalan Philology, the Unit for Multilingual Education, and the Language Service of the University of Alacant, in relation to the institutional declaration approved by the Plenary Session of the City Council of Alacant on 26 June, which proposes to modify the Law on the Use and Teaching of Valencian (LUEV) to assign the city of Alacant to the area of Castilian language predominance.

The text expresses the rejection of the proposal and the deep concern about its cultural, social and legal implications. Among the most relevant aspects, it highlights:

• The reminder of the historical Valencian-speaking character of the city of Alacant, with its own language that is part of its identity and cultural heritage.
• The serious educational consequences that the change of language ascription in the legislative modification would have, limiting the teaching in Valencian and violating the linguistic rights of the students and of the Valencian-speaking population.
• The warning about the loss of capital and leadership of Alacant within the Valencian territory if it renounces its own language, breaking the connection with the regions where the Valencian language maintains a robust vitality.

The Montserrat Declaration, recently approved by the institution, is committed to a multilingual policy that trains competent professionals with an international vocation, while reaffirming its commitment to the promotion of its native language in the university sphere. In this sense, the Vives Network calls on institutions to guarantee language protection as a common heritage and a key element for educational quality and the professionalisation of students.

With this adhesion, the Vives Network reaffirms its commitment to the protection of language diversity and respectful coexistence, as well as the promotion of Valencian as the language of the city of Alacant and the whole region.

The Vives Network of Universities is a non-profit institution that represents and coordinates the joint action of 22 universities in Valencian, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia, Andorra and Sardinia. With 30 years of experience in the development of university projects with visible and renowned results, it represents a university group of more than 530,000 people including students, teaching and research staff (PDI), and technical, administrative and service staff (PTGAS).