The use of Catalan is already the second reason for discrimination in Barcelona

BarcelonaThe use of Catalan continues to face setbacks in Barcelona. According to data from the Observatory of Discriminations in Barcelona, speaking Catalan is now the second main reason for discrimination in the city. The report points out that, during 2025, 284 complaints were filed for this reason, only behind the 348 that were filed for racism and xenophobia.

According to the report, people discriminated against because of language tried to carry out daily actions in Catalan, such as ordering at a bar or restaurant, handling a medical matter, or renewing documentation, and were met with demands to switch to Spanish, a lack of documentation in Catalan, and even service denials. Private entities are the main focus of this type of discrimination, according to the document. In the 2024 report, language accounted for 192 cases and occupied fifth place in the ranking.

In a statement, Plataforma per la Llengua has denounced that the data "confirm a sustained and especially worrying trend": discrimination for speaking in Catalan continues to increase. Faced with this scenario, the organization considers it essential to strengthen reporting tools, increase the obligations of companies and administrations in linguistic matters, and ensure that discrimination for speaking Catalan stops occurring with "impunity".

Overall, the Observatory of Discriminations in Barcelona registered 1,265 situations of discrimination in 2025, 14.8% more than the previous year. The second deputy mayor, Maria Eugènia Gay, has warned that "behind these figures there are many other situations that never reach the point of being reported". As a new development, the public administration has for the first time become the main discriminating agent, especially due to complaints in the health sector –the third reason for discrimination with 268 complaints–, as explained by the head of the Human Rights and Non-Discrimination department of the City Council, Jaume Muñoz.

In the 2024 report, states Muñoz, the public administration was listed as the third discriminating agent. As he detailed, when the agents are police forces or private security, the main reason for discrimination is racism and xenophobia, and in the case of private entities and companies, it is language. Cases of LGBTI-phobia, on the other hand, are committed "mostly by individuals", he added.

Women, the main victims

Muñoz explained that the Observatory has gone from 265 registered cases in 2018 to 1,265 last year. “It is not that there is an exponential increase in discrimination in the city, which is obviously a problem that worries and occupies us,” he stated, but rather that “it can also be understood that there are better tools to detect them.” “All the work we do against underreporting is yielding results,” he added.

According to Muñoz, the people discriminated against are mainly women. The majority of those who report have regularized status, with a DNI or NIE, although “there are many more non-regularized people, refugees or asylum seekers, and many more who suffer discrimination” in the city, he concluded.