Missing the point

By Jason Moore THE Balearics is in the midst of a major economic slowdown, the tourist season hasn´t even started yet and we are in June, the metro is still closed and countless other things are in need of attention. Meanwhile, our political classes are busy arguing over the issue of language; the Catalan language. This issue has effectively split the main opposition, Partido Popular in the midst of an leadership contest, while the Balearic government is busy underlying the importance of the language. This is all very well but I just don´t understand why all of a sudden Catalan has become an issue when there are far more pressing problems which need attention. I had to learn Catalan because the majority of our politicians (if not all apart from some notable exceptions) speak it at all official functions from press conferences to receptions. This is not new it is a state of affairs which has been going on for decades. So why all of a sudden is it an issue? If you want to live and work in Majorca it does help to speak Catalan. So until our hotels are full again, the local economy is back on track and everything is going to plan again I think it might be a better idea to concentrate on other more important issues because otherwise there might be little point in learning other languages such as English or German.