Catalan, a minoritized language with a will for the future

Language is much more than a simple instrument of communication: it is a central element of personal and collective identity, a vehicle of culture, memory and relationship with the world. For this reason, the defence of linguistic rights becomes a fundamental issue in any society that aspires to be fair, democratic and respectful of diversity. These rights guarantee that all people can live fully in their language, without discrimination or exclusion.

The defence of linguistic rights is especially relevant in contexts of multilingualism, where imbalances of power between languages often occur. Without active public policies of protection and promotion, this inequality can lead to linguistic substitution and, ultimately, to the disappearance of languages.

The case of Catalan is very special in this regard. Within the European context, it is a medium-sized language in terms of the number of speakers: it has 10 million spread across four states, three of which belong to the European Union (Spain, France and Italy), and another has it as its only official language (Andorra). And the fact of coexisting with languages as powerful as Spanish, French and Italian, together with the addition of the international language that English has become, means that these active language policies are entirely necessary to guarantee its presence in all areas of society. And this poses a series of challenges to Catalan society that must be addressed by administrations and citizens.

Public administrations must understand that their role is essential when it comes to guaranteeing the development of language policies. A paradigmatic case is the school, where Catalan has traditionally had a central presence as a vehicular language, a model praised and awarded throughout Europe that has been key to guaranteeing social cohesion and equal opportunities. The Catalan school has for many years allowed students with diverse linguistic origins to acquire full competence in Catalan and Spanish, helping to avoid segregation by language. However, in recent years, setbacks have been detected in the effective use of Catalan in classrooms and in the informal spaces of schools.

As for cultural references, we find that in many sports clubs, Catalan coexists with other languages, but often loses centrality as the usual language of interaction. On social networks, content creators in Catalan have grown in number, but they continue to be a minority compared with those who use Spanish or English, languages that dominate algorithms and the dynamics of visibility. In the case of video games, the offer in Catalan is still very limited, a fact that limits the opportunities for use in one of the main spaces of youth leisure.

In recent years, violations of the linguistic rights of Catalan speakers have also occurred in an area as sensitive as healthcare. Although several studies have made it clear that linguistic discordance between doctor and patient hinders recovery from illness, the number of complaints from patients who have considered themselves poorly treated and even humiliated for using Catalan before a medical professional has grown exponentially. Here we could also include care for elderly people or people with mental health problems.

Even so, responsibility does not fall only on administrations; it is also necessary for citizens to act and use the language normally and to demand it when they feel their linguistic rights have been violated. And in this regard, organized social entities such as Plataforma per la Llengua play a fundamental role.

Plataforma per la Llengua is one of the largest entities in defence of a language in Europe. With a presence in all Catalan-speaking territories and more than 25,000 members, it works to pressure administrations to comply with the legal framework and make it respected, but also to encourage Catalan society to use Catalan without complexes.

Based on the work of this and other social entities, various positive initiatives have been generated: educational projects that promote the use of Catalan outside the classroom, digital campaigns to promote content in this language, communities of young people who claim Catalan as a tool of creativity and identity...

Paraphrasing the Valencian linguist Manuel Sanchis Guarner, a language does not die alone, it dies because its speakers abandon it. And in this sense, Catalan has 10 million speakers who love it and use it. Because languages must be useful, necessary, they must form an intrinsic part of a society and a culture. Catalan speakers have the will to make Catalan a tool of social integration. For this reason, despite the enormous challenges ahead of us, we know that our language has a future.