The signs that guide the ascent to the Eiffel Tower will include directions in Spanish in addition to the already existing in English and Frenchafter having accepted the request from a French language association who fights against exclusive bilingualism of those two languages and is now preparing a similar lawsuit for Notre-Dame Cathedral and 20 other public entities.
The French Language Defense Association presented a appeal to the administrative court of Parison the occasion of International day of la Francophonieto include Spanish in the informative posters of the emblematic iron monument erected in 1889.
“We threatened them with a lawsuit. It took a year. They progressed little by little but, finally, they changed everything to add Spanish in November 2022,” explained the Association’s spokesman, Louis Maisonneuve.
The promoters of the idea want combat what they consider a generalization of English as a universal language in all areas of French society, a claim that perhaps it covers up the old rivalries that the Gauls maintain with the Saxon culture.
Cultural inclusion in France
The Association invokes the Toubon law of August 4, 1994, which obliges the French authorities, when translating public information, to do so in at least two foreign languages.
“The interesting thing about the Toubon law is that it does not grant primacy to the Anglo-American,” explained Maisonneuve, who thus defines the English language.
In the Parisian public means of transport it is common to hear notices in French and English and, according to the law, in languages such as Spanish, Italian, German or Japanesebut that is not always reflected in the billboards.
With the goal of the Eiffel Tower fulfilled, the organization goes for its next challenge: oblige the public entity in charge of the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral to change the descriptive signs of the works, which only appear in French and English. They also prepare lawsuits against 20 other public entities.
Source: Ambito
