"It is very fascist-like": a Barcelona municipal police officer is suspended from pay and work following linguistic discrimination

BarcelonaThe Barcelona City Council has sanctioned a Guàrdia Urbana officer with 24 days of suspension of salary and employment following a linguistic conflict with some citizens. The municipal police officer branded as "fascist" and "totalitarian" the fact that the woman asked them to address her in Catalan as the public servants they are. The video published this Thursday by Plataforma per la Llengua has been key to the complaint and to forcing the council to sanction the officer.

The complaint regarding linguistic discrimination points out that the police officer refused to assist the affected person in Catalan, when municipal workers have the obligation to address citizens who request it primarily in Catalan, and they cannot deny them the linguistic availability of their choice. That is why civil servants like police officers must pass proficiency tests to join the force. In contrast, the police officer claims: "We speak how we want, like you". And he defends his "linguistic rights" to refuse to speak Catalan, something the woman reproaches him for by saying that she pays his salary with her taxes.

The organization celebrates the resolution because it "represents the institutional recognition of a violation of linguistic rights," although Plataforma has not had access to the disciplinary file opened against the officer following the complaint, and the official reason for the complaint has not been released.

The events date back to July 2025 and took place on Rambla Prim in Barcelona, when an officer asked for identification from a person wanting to access a cordoned-off area. When she asked for explanations for this identification and asked to be served in Catalan, the police officer said to her: "It is very fascist to force people to speak in a language they do not want to [speak]". The conflict ended with a fine for the citizen for "rebuking and disparaging the agents." Plataforma filed a complaint with the Mayor's Office of Barcelona in December for violating the Statute and the Barcelona City Council's own regulations (the Regulation on the use of the Catalan language) and for failing to fulfill police duties. Now, after the administrative recognition of the facts and the imposed sanction, Plataforma hopes that the courts will withdraw the fine against the woman through administrative litigation.