A debate that constantly arises in Catalonia for certain public positions is whether Catalan, the co-official language of the autonomous community, is necessary. In all Catalan competitive examinations they ask for a C1 level of Catalan, which tends to leave out many people from the rest of Spain. And this is what a girl has complained about on TikTok, through a video that has sparked controversy.
In the video we see the girl, a nurse who works at the Hospital La Vall d’Hebron, accompanied by two other colleagues. She is originally from Cadiz, and as she explains her companions are from Granada and San Sebastian. In the TikTok, the young woman expresses her dissatisfaction with the requirements of the competitive examinations: although there are 3,500 new vacancies for nurses, it is necessary to have a C1 level of Catalan.
However, the course of the video changes when her companion from San Sebastian says that she will apply and begins to speak in basic Catalan. The Cadiz native quickly tells her “you are dismantling the video” and then makes it clear that “my mother is going to take the C1 of Catalan, because I am not going to take the C1 of Catalan”.
This has quickly ignited the networks. Many people are siding with the protagonist, as it is not clear to them that it is necessary to attend to patients in Catalan in a place where Spanish is also official. But many others are criticizing her and siding with the Basque nurse, as they value the effort and believe that it is the minimum to work in the autonomous community.
The video has reached such an extent that the hospital where they work has issued the following statements: “We cannot tolerate that within our facilities, during working hours and with the uniform of the institution, videos are made that have nothing to do with healthcare activities“.
