Monday, March 15, 2010

Catalan and parking fines

Article 138 of the traffic act mandates that written directions of traffic signs be written at a minimum in Castilian.
Las indicaciones escritas que se incluyan o acompañen a los paneles de señalización de las vías públicas, e inscripciones, figurarán en idioma castellano y, además, en la lengua oficial de la comunidad autónoma reconocida en el respectivo estatuto de autonomía, cuando la señal esté ubicada en el ámbito territorial de dicha comunidad.

The information written to include or accompany the marking of roads, and inscriptions, shall appear in Castilian and also in the official language of the autonomous community according to the statute of autonomy, when the sign is located in the territory of that community.

According to the right wing newspaper ABC (which always writes these kind of stories in a very gloating tone), Barcelona city council is annulling any fines that are appealed for linguistic reasons. (I assume this is to avoid losing in court and establishing a precedent)

This is especially handy in downtown Sant Cugat, since this means I no longer have to worry about getting tickets with my shortcuts through no entry "excepte veïns" zones.

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