The change in the name of the department has taken its toll. The president of the Department, which is leading this project, Hermeline Malherbe, admits the setback experienced by this issue. If he is not buried, at the beginning of January, no calendar has been advanced.
Like a refrain, the change of the name of the Pyrénées-Orientales has come back to the table at the start of each year, for three years. During her wishes to the press, presented this Monday, January 13, 2025, Hermeline Malherbe explained the setback experienced by this file which was nevertheless to punctuate the year 2024: “The dissolution of the National Assembly cut short our work and government instability did not allow us to continue it.“.
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The subject, a campaign promise of the socialist candidate for president of the Department, would not be abandoned. “We are integrating it into the citizen dialogue, which will be carried out by Labo P.-O., concerning the future of the Pyrénées-Orientales“. The timing is clear. Even fatal? It is a risk. Because the process is not simple. Apart from the feat of succeeding in getting a majority of Catalans to agree between proposals such as, according to our sources, Pyrenees- Mediterranean, Catalan Pyrenees or Catalan Country, such a file must automatically go up to the Council of State. The institution must decide in favor, or not, of a change of name.
The Independent – Emma Esposito
In 2024, the entire timetable for the process was presented during these same wishes to the press. A year later, to the day, the case even seems to have gone backwards. What about the major consultation which was to be open, last September, to all the inhabitants of the Pyrénées-Orientales to indicate their preference for the future name? “They will be questioned“, still assures Hermeline Malherbe. But no date could be brought forward.
