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- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Murcia Today Andalucia Today
Date Published: 03/11/2021
ARCHIVED - Businesses can only speak Valencian in Benidorm: the proposal to kill tourism in Alicante
The regional parliament has made the bizarre suggestion to oblige Benidorm businesses to address customers only in Valencian
Business owners in Benidorm and the associations that represent them are outraged at a new proposal that would require them to speak Valencià instead of Spanish, English or any other language their customers may speak.
The Benidorm business associations ABRECA, COBRECA, AICO, APTUR CV and JOVEMPA have labelled the proposal by the Valencian Parliament to legally force commercial establishments to serve in the Valencian language as “alarming”.
In a joint statement, they recognise that Valencian is “an important language for the culture of our region”, but add that the economy of the Valencian Community is based on the tourist industry as it represents an important part of its GDP.
“The vast majority of our customers are foreigners and people from the rest of Spain who come back more and more because we offer them a very personal and high-quality service. The customer chooses where to buy based on the service/product offered, its quality, price and the attention received,” they stated.
The associations consider that there should be no imposition on an establishment to serve in the languages it deems appropriate according to the customer to whom it wants to try to sell its product or service, and the customer also has a right to receive a service in the language of their choice if it is available: “The customer has the same freedom to buy or not in an establishment and can establish the language in which they are served.”
Quite how the Valencian parliament considering this new rule expected foreign tourists to communicate with local shop owners, restauranteurs and hoteliers in the local Valencian dialect has not been revealed.
It is thought that the requirement to speak in the Valencian language was an attempt to preserve traditional Valencian culture, but it has run up against fierce criticism. Indeed, the associations spoke in harsh terms to the regional parliament, reminding them that they are “private companies and not their own private courtiers; we are their administrators, not their subjects, and that freedom is the most beautiful thing that exists and should be for both parties in any relationship of any kind.”
Image: Ayuntamiento de Benidorm
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