2024-01-17 17:51:38
What if, in a few months, the Pyrénées-Orientales were no longer called Pyrénées-Orientales? This is the proposal made by the president of the departmental council who announces the establishment in February of a working group responsible for working on the issue. “The actors of Catalanity but also the representatives of the consular chambers, the various professional unions as well as academics, historians but also jurists will be called upon to choose a name which will have the greatest chance of being validated at the end of the process by the Council of State,” explains Hermeline Malherbe. In September, a citizen consultation will allow residents’ opinions to be collected on a list of proposals.
Launch of a climate change lab
“We realized two things: there is sometimes confusion between Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Pyrénées-Orientales and our department, because of its name, proves difficult to point out on a map of France,” continues the president of the Advice. The elected official therefore intends to respond to the request for better consideration of local Catalan identity, “as the world of rugby already does, for example between Usap and the Catalan Dragons”…
Even tourism stakeholders, who until now insisted on a geographical reference to the Mediterranean, are also calling for this Catalan identity to be strengthened, points out Hermeline Malherbe. France Bleu Roussillon also organized its own consultation on the subject a few days ago, with 17,000 voters: 56% lean towards Catalan Country, 18% would not change its name and 17% would prefer Catalan Pyrenees.
Consult, bring together to decide with full knowledge of the facts, the president of the departmental council wishes to apply this method beyond the question of changing the name: “We are launching Labo PO, a meeting point between research and stakeholders in the field and whose the mission will be to work on the impacts of climate change in our department which is called upon to be a pilot in this area,” she explains. The first workshop, scheduled for March, will focus on fire risk.
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