Member of an ambulance crew reported for shouting “Viva España!” at a patient

The linguistic platform “per la Llengua” claim that the patient was not attended to because he spoke in Valencian

The Platform per la Llengua has denounced an ambulance crew member that shouted at a patient “long live Spain, long live the King, long live law and order!”, when he spoke in Valencian, according to the organization.

The event occurred in Sant Vicent del Raspeig (Alicante), when a mother and daughter, called an ambulance through 112 due to the daughter suffering from an anxiety attack. When the daughter approached the ambulance crew to inform them of her symptoms, one of them replied:  “What are you talking about? Speak to me in Spanish”.

The patient continued speaking in the Valencian language, telling the technicians of ambulance that“if you don’t understand, why do you answer everything I say? In addition, my heart hurts and I have anxiety”. According to the platform la Llengua, the ambulance crew member did not offer any type of patient care and, in addition, yelled: “¡Viva España, viva el rey, viva el orden y la ley!”. (Long live Spain, long live the King and long live law and order).

The platform considers that the ambulance crew member showed linguistic prejudices “unworthy of a Generalitat public sector worker”. They have recommended that the worker “undergo a course of valencian” and has urged the Department to inform him about linguistic rights as laid out in the Spanish constitution. In addition, they have pointed out the need for a protocol to respond to these situations.

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