“Portugal signed the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe, but has not yet ratified it. The process will be moving forward but we have no information if it will be moving at the desired speed”, explained the president of ALCM, Alfredo Cameirão, to the Lusa agency.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) announced on September 7, 2021 that Portugal had signed the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe, which aims to protect and promote the continent’s historic regional and minority languages.
According to a note from the MNE, issued on this date, the Mirandese language was the basis for the signature.
According to Alfredo Cameirão, the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe is a document that dates back to 1992, which “lists a series of premises with which the Member States” of this organization are committed to “safeguarding and defense of the various minority languages that each country may have in its territory”. “In the case of Portugal, it was said, in the act of signing, that the reason for this act was the defense of the Mirandese language, the minority league existing in our country”, stressed Alfredo Cameirão.
For the official, rectification of the Charter is fundamental and exemplifies some of the premises, such as the case of the Portuguese State committing “to offer the translation from Portuguese to Mirandese in the courts, if the citizen so wishes”.
“This document also establishes that there should be a periodic assessment of compliance with the items contained in this letter in order to assess the status of its implementation, by international experts”, said Alfredo Cameirão.
For the president of the ALCM, the ratification of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe would be the resumption of the defense of the Mirandese language by the central power.
“Let’s imagine a professional technical course in tourism, for example, taught in Terra de Miranda. For us, it makes perfect sense that one of the languages used in the training of students is Mirandese, but as a curricular language and not an operational one”, he highlighted.
Another of the benefits of rectifying the Charter could be that people speak and write Mirandese correctly when applying for a job at the Municipality of Miranda Douro or another local public service.
Portugal is one of the few European countries that has not yet ratified this European Charter.
“When you talk about Mirandês in Lisbon, it is almost a non-issue, because it has little political weight and votes”, stressed Alfredo Cameirão
A study by the University of Vigo (UVigo), Spain, points to the ratification of the European Charter for Minority Languages and the need for a new Mirandese Law, updated according to planned and budgeted actions and measures in education, justice, local administration and regional, public services, means of communication, activities and social facilities, economy and cross-border exchanges, as a starting point for the Mirandese language to regain vitality.
According to the municipality of Miranda do Douro and the representatives of the ACLM, the 39 minimum principles of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages of the Council of Europe, with which Portugal has to commit, were evaluated.
For the president of the Miranda Douro School Group, António Santos, the future of the Mirandese language will always depend on its teaching.
“A shock plateau is needed for Mirandese to survive in the coming decades”, he stressed.
Despite official recognition by law in 1999, Mirandese still “does not have an adequate institutional framework”, point out the linguists who dedicate themselves to the study of this language.
