That signs, menus and waiters speak Catalan in Barcelona: the Restaurant Guild subsidizes the translations

BarcelonaHalf of the restaurant workers in Barcelona do not speak Catalan (47.6%), and one in four bar and restaurant staff don't even understand it. Only 65% ​​of establishments use Catalan in their signage. The 2024 survey of restaurant sector activity by the Barcelona City Council, released this September, revealed dismal data on Catalan usage. Faced with this reality, the Barcelona Restaurant Guild, in conjunction with the ERC party, has put forward three immediate measures. Firstly, they have published a guide, which is already being sent to the 9,000 member establishments, informing them of the language regulations, which require customers to be able to express themselves and be served in Catalan, and of the resources available to implement them. Catalan, well served It can be consulted in Catalan, Spanish, English, Chinese, and Urdu. Furthermore, they offer businesses a free translation service for all their communications—signage, invoices, letters, allergen information, websites—into Catalan, in order to comply with another requirement of the Consumer Code. Finally, ERC is making its community centers available so that restaurant workers can take classes adapted to their practical needs. They will begin with a pilot program in the Eixample district in early 2026, in agreement with Plataforma per la Llengua and Òmnium.

"Faced with the linguistic emergency, we are taking the initiative and doing something we believe the City Council should be doing, because Catalan cannot wait in the capital of the country," criticized Elisenda Alamany, president of the ERC municipal group in Barcelona. In fact, the 2026 budget agreement with the PSC includes precisely the deployment ofa plan to extend Catalan to the restaurant industryTherefore, what was presented this Tuesday is a first step in that direction. For now, the campaign's resources come exclusively from the Barcelona Restaurant Guild. This initiative complements existing national regulations and resources, such as the courses offered by the Consortium for Linguistic Normalization and specific language support campaigns for shops, like the Apprentice Shops program. Language regulations and shop inspections also fall under the purview of the Generalitat (Catalan government), specifically the Department of Business and Labor, but this leaves many loopholes, as the figures indicate.

"We want to promote what is normal, which is the use of Catalan in the city's bars and restaurants. The data isn't positive, but there is commitment from our sector, and we hope that other sectors of the economy will join in," argued Roger Pallarols, the general manager of the Barcelona Restaurant Guild. The guide aims to "support" businesses and "facilitate" the use of Catalan. "It's a commitment to the language, to regulations, to genuine integration, and to quality crafts," listed Pallarols, who pointed out the strategic importance of the sector, one of the country's economic engines, both in terms of economic volume and employment. However, the Half of the retail sector workers were born outside the PrincipalityThis can lead to linguistic deficiencies among staff. "I don't know if the campaign will prevent cases of Catalanophobia; what can prevent it is respect and common sense. These are isolated and condemnable cases. We want to push a train that has been off the rails for far too long," says Pallarols.

"It's hard to find staff," admitted Henk Cortier, the Belgian owner of the San Antonio brewery Lambicus. "But with a little effort, if you speak Spanish, it's easy to learn Catalan. I don't ask the waiters to be able to have philosophical conversations, but they should be able to explain our product." He himself learned Catalan when he arrived in Barcelona in 2000, and it's the working language of the establishment he's run for 12 years, the language of the menu and social media. With local customers as well as international clientele, his goal is "to adapt to the customers and let everyone speak what they want," he says. Thus, he assures that he hasn't had any linguistic conflicts; on the contrary: "People appreciate it when you speak Catalan. I've actually encountered Catalans who switch to Spanish when they see the waiter is from elsewhere," he remarks in good Catalan.