In the province of Alicante, the majority of families opted for Spanish as the language of instruction. Six out of ten parents favoured Castilian, which corresponds to 65.89% of the votes cast (83,569 votes). In contrast, 34.11% (43,269 votes) voted in favour of Valencian. These results of the language vote come from the consultation published by the Ministry of Education, the results of which were announced on Thursday.
It is striking that Alicante is the only province of the Valencian Community in which Spanish was chosen as the predominant language. In contrast, majorities in the provinces of Valencia (57.84%) and Castellón (70.5%) were in favour of Valencian. Nationally, Valencian received a narrow majority of 50.53TP3T, while Spanish came in at 49.47%.
Significant regional differences within the province
There are strong regional differences within Alicante. Spanish dominates in the southern and central districts in particular. In the Vega Baja, 95.25% of parents opted for Castilian, in Alto Vinalopó it was 83.17%, in L'Alacantí 75.61%, in Vinalopó Mitjà 74.67% and in Baix Vinalopó 59.19%.
The situation is different in the northern districts of the province, where Valencian predominates. Particularly high approval ratings were recorded in Comtat with 87.63%, Marina Alta with 71.62%, L'Alcoià with 60.09% and Marina Baixa with 57.26%.
There are also major differences in the province's larger cities. While in Alicante itself 83.07% of parents chose Spanish, in Torrevieja the vote was 97.84% and in Orihuela 98.05 %. In Elda, 95.77% opted for Spanish, in San Vicente del Raspeig 72.58% and in Elche 59.75%. On the other hand, a majority in Alcoy and Denia opted for Valencian-Alcoy 59.66% and in Dénia 53.27%.
Political debate on language policy and multilingualism
The vote was part of an initiative by the regional government under President Carlos Mazón, which aimed to soften the language policy of the previous government, which had been criticised as „imposition“. Education Minister José Antonio Rovira emphasised in a statement that the results of the consultation reflected a „balanced system“. „Both languages win, but above all the families,“ said Rovira. He argued that the results of the vote demonstrated the desire for pluralism and did not create a competition between Castilian and Valencian, as claimed by some political parties.
Nevertheless, the language policy remains a controversial issue. Currently, in 40% schools in the province of Alicante, half or more of the lessons are taught in Valencian. These language projects were introduced under the previous government, which promoted a model in which one of the two official languages serves as the main language of instruction.
Participation and impact on school lessons
The vote mobilised 57.96% of parents in the province of Alicante, while similar participation rates were recorded in Valencia (58.81%) and Castellón (59.81%). The northern districts of Comtat (73.28%) and L'Alcoià (70.21%) were the most active, while the Vega Baja had the lowest turnout within the province with 46.7%.
These results could have a long-term impact on language policy in schools. For educational institutions, this is likely to mean adapting to the majority decisions of parents.
The issue of the language of instruction remains a central topic of political and social debate in the Autonomous Community of Valencia, while the government interprets the results as a signal in favour of „equal coexistence“.