A group of academics and local writers have put together a ‘Llanito Manifesto’ calling for “decisive top-down government action […] to ensure the survival of Llanito.” The manifesto is a result of last week’s symposium on Gibraltarian culture and writing at the University of Cambridge.

The manifesto was published today as a letter to the Gibraltar Chronicle - it was also sent to YGT for publication as a statement:

On 12-13 September 2023, a symposium on the theme of ‘Llanito, culture and writing’ was held at the University of Cambridge. It was convened by Professor Laura Wright with financial support from the Gibraltar Government and the University of Cambridge, and was attended by internationally-renowned academics and Gibraltarian writers, who agree unanimously that:

1.  Llanito is dying. Intergenerational transmission of the language has reduced dramatically in recent decades, and it will soon be lost completely unless urgent action is taken to save it. 

2.  There is strong evidence that Gibraltarians cherish their centuries-long multilingual heritage and regard its loss as a tragedy, betraying future Gibraltarians’ linguistic birthright.

3.  The state of Llanito must be officially investigated, and the fight to keep Gibraltar's multilingual heritage alive treated as a matter of urgent national importance.  

4.  Grassroots initiatives will not suffice. Strong and decisive top-down government action is required to ensure the survival of Llanito. Educational policies must be designed to ensure that preschool and primary-school children are able to speak Gibraltar’s unique national variety of Spanish as well as English.  If children do not speak Llanito to each other, they cannot pass it on to their children.

Signed

Rebecca Calderon

Frank Devincenzi

Giordano Durante

Manuel Enriles MA, President, NGO Gibraltarians For A Multilingual Society

Humbert Hernandez

Sophie Macdonald

Gabriel Moreno

Jonathan Pizarro

Brian Porro, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Linguists

Dr Mark Sanchez

Jonathan Teuma, Profesor Visitante, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

Dr Jamie Trinidad KC, University of Cambridge

Esterino Adami, Associate Professor of English, University of Turin

David Britain, Professor of Modern English Linguistics, University of Bern

Linda Fisher, Professor of Languages Education, University of Cambridge

Ina Habermann, Professor of English Literature since the Renaissance, University of Basel

Ana Mª Manzanas Calvo, Professor of American Literature and Culture, University of Salamanca

Brechtje Post, Professor of Phonetics and Phonology, University of Cambridge

Elena Seoane, Professor of English Linguistics, University of Vigo

Ioanna Sitaridou, Professor of Spanish and Historical Linguistics, University of Cambridge

Laura Wright, Professor of English Language, University of Cambridge