Minority languages and cultures: the peril of land speculation

On May 24 in Bastia, Coppieters Foundation in collaboration with Arritti will hold an event on the subject of real estate speculation.

The conference will take place in the conference room of the Citadelle Museum, from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m, the event will see the intervention of:

Antonia Luciani, President of Coppieters Foundation, she was territorial councilor for Femu in Corsica, entering politics by following Green Party MEP François Alfonsi to the European Parliament, sha has been political advisor for the group. In 2010, with other young people, she founded the PNC Ghjuventù, organized conferences, and took the pulse of current issues on the island.

Paul Videsott, University of Bolzano/Bolzen, South Tyrol, Italy. Specialist on the Ladin, a mountain people in the Dolomites.
The Ladin people occupy five valleys descending from a high Alpine peak in the Dolomites in Italy, Monte Sella. They live in the upper part of these valleys, between 1100 and 1600 meters above sea level. Three valleys are administered by the autonomous entities of South Tyrol (mostly German-speaking) and Trentino (Italian-speaking), which form the Regione Trentino-Alto Adige, one of the five Autonomous Regions with Special Status recognized by the Italian Constitution.  These mountain valleys are experiencing significant tourist pressure due to their snow cover and the reputation of their sites, which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Real estate pressure is high, and the heart of the villages is gradually being devitalized by the phenomenon of second homes. As a result, real estate speculation threatens the cultural revival of the Ladins in the three valleys, developing favorable linguistic policies, and contributes to its decline in the valleys governed by Italian common law.

Frank De Boer, Political leader in Friesland, a Frisian-speaking region in the Netherlands. The Frisian language is one of Europe’s minority languages, and its preservation is the priority of the Frisian nationalist political movement, the Fryske Nasjona/e Partij, of which Frank de Boer is a leader. Friesland extends into the North Sea through several islands that form a coastal strip where tourism is highly developed, generating strong real estate pressure. Rising real estate prices threaten the continued existence of a native Frisian population on these islands. Therefore, local authorities have developed a specific policy similar to residency status. The Fryske Nasjonale Partij is part of the ruling coalition in the Friesland region and is responsible for housing policy. Their minister strongly supported this approach by the town halls managing the Frisian islands in the North Sea.

Peio Dufau, Member of Parliament for the Northern Basque Country, member of the Basque nationalist party EH-Bai, one of the organizations of the Federation of Regions and Peoples in Solidarity, he was elected as a Member of Parliament in July 2024 in the Basque Country border constituency.

In the Basque Country, there has been significant mobilization to combat the AirB&B phenomenon and second homes. The Basque Country Urban Community then adopted effective measures to combat these residentialization phenomena, to preserve the Basque people’s right to housing, and also to protect the territory’s productive functions, particularly in agriculture. EH-Bai aims to develop the status of the Basque Country so that it has its own administration and can fight more effectively.

Michel Castellani, Politician representing Pè a Corsica. He was elected to the French National Assembly in 2017, representing the department of Haute-Corse.

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This is a joint event of Coppieters Foundation and Arritti.

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This event is financially supported by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not liable for the content of the event nor for the opinions of the speakers at the awards ceremony.

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