Cinemas in Spain´s northeastern region of Catalonia will close for a day on Monday in protest against a new law requiring that 50 percent of all foreign films screened there be dubbed into Catalan.

The region, which includes Barcelona, Spain´s second largest city, accounts for about one-fifth of the country´s box office but just two percent of movies from the United States or other nations were dubbed into Catalan in 2008.

Camillo Tarrazon, the president of the Catalan Association of Cinemas, said the dubbing law which was approved by the regional Catalan parliament earlier this month would be an “apocalypse” for cinemas in the region.

“This is a law which will close theatres, which will lead to a reduction in the number of copies of films and a drop in the number of spectators,” he said in comments published Wednesday in Spanish newspapers.

Tarrazon said 74 cinemas, representing 81 percent of the total in Catalonia, are expected to remain shut on Monday as part of the strike.

The last time the Catalan government tried to introduce similar regulations, in 1998, it was forced to back down after studios threatened to withdraw distribution in the region.

Dictator Francisco Franco banned dubbing into Catalan as well as into Spain´s other regional languages, Galician and Basque, shortly after he came to power in 1939 in a bid to promote national unity but since his death in 1975 use of the three languages has flourished.

Public education in Catalonia, Spain´s wealthiest region, is now carried out primarily in Catalan, while a 1998 law obliges businesses to serve clients in Catalan and have signs and information in the language.

Last month more than 160 Catalan towns held symbolic referendums on independence from Spain.

Catalonia, like other Spanish regions, already controls most aspects of government, including health and education.

Under a regional statute approved in 2006, Catalonia´s regional parliament was granted enhanced powers in taxation and judicial matters as well as more control over airports, ports and immigration.

Spain´s constitutional court is considering a submission by the right-wing opposition Popular Party to reject the definition of Catalonia as a “nation” used in the 2006 statute.

Press reports have said the court will bar the term, setting the stage for a major political crisis.

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via AFP: Cinemas in Spain’s Catalonia to strike over dubbing law.