"With every successful reel, someone tells you 'speak to me in plain English'": Catalan influencers speak out

BarcelonaYoung people and social media are two of the areas where Catalan is experiencing the most pronounced decline. Only 25% of young people They declare themselves Catalan speakers, a figure that rises to 40% if we include those who identify as bilingual, according to the latest Survey of Youth in Catalonia. These changes in cultural habits are related to them. Young people's culture is increasingly virtual, and they don't frequent the traditional spaces where the government could have had an impact with public policies favoring the Catalan language: 70% of young people don't go to the theater, 50% don't go to museums or concerts, and 30% don't even watch television, according to [source missing]. a survey by Òmnium CulturalThe Barcelona City Council inaugurated this Thursday the House of Digital Creation in Catalan by focusing efforts on these two areas: young people and networks. But what do they think, the influencers From Catalan, what about the situation of the language? We've spoken with some of the most influential specialists in the field right now.

Networks and the lack of role models

"Young people are switching languages because that's what they see in their role models, in their content, and it's what they see socially: Spanish is the language of the street and Catalan is the language of slippers for wearing around the house; this is taking hold," warns Marc Lesan, from the political and humorous podcast The Arrabassada (19,000 followers on Instagram, 5,000 on YouTube). At the same time, "concern for Catalan" has spread among some young people, who have become language activists on social media through accounts like @SOS.català, which creates content about the language and popular culture of the Catalan Countries. learning Catalan among foreignersA viral piece of content that has propelled her to nearly 100,000 followers.

For its authors, the problem lies in social media. "The digital environment is dominated by Spanish and other global languages. This leads young people to unconsciously associate entertainment, humor, and youth culture with Spanish," notes Blanca Roca. Studies show that teenagers spend between three and four hours a day on screens. "When teachers ask students 'What do you want to be when you grow up?', many answer 'content creator' or 'YouTuber“It’s a trendy profession with a future and potential for success, where the working language is different,” observes Roca. For Joan S. Moñino, of @parlars_mallorquins (23,000 followers), the problem also exists outside of social media, focusing on the political situation and laws of each territory, which condition its use. “They do allow us to break down the borders between the Catalan Countries, something that had never been achieved with television,” he celebrates.

All the creators assure us that they maintain Catalan both online and offline, mostly without conflict, but with patience and stubbornness. “When you dedicate yourself to maintaining something, you have to repeat things many times. I’m still working on it because I naturally avoid conflict. Now, when you do it, you unlock new characters like in a video game,” explains Lesan. A thick skin is also needed on social media: “Every reel In Catalan, which has a few views, someone tells you «Speak to me in Christian terms», «We don't understand you."There's someone spewing hate, it never fails," adds Lesan, who works as community manager.

Fighting a monster

The pandemic sparked a boom in Catalan content creation, but of course, it also affected other languages. The short format of reel And TikTok has facilitated access to content, which is completely globalized, which, thanks to the algorithms, makes it difficult for Catalan content to stand out. "In Spanish, we're bombarded with all kinds of content, and you see that if you're influencer In this language, you end up doing events chupiguayos In Madrid, Catalan is seen as something second-rate, boring, not as aspirational, because big creators, like myself and others, obviously aren't at the level of Lolalolita, Ibai Llanos, or Marina Rivers,” says Fran Tudela, @Cabrafotuda, from Valencia, with a community of 189,000 Instagram followers. “It's a monster. For more people creating content in Catalan, there will always be more and higher-quality content in Spanish due to the sheer volume of people and brands. One solution is for institutions to invest money to create a truly powerful scene on social media,” he proposes.

In Catalonia, there have been publicly supported initiatives such as the Propulsión grants, the Crit awards, the Carulla Foundation's Call for Ideas, and now the House of Digital Creation in Catalan, which aims precisely to help professionalize this field. It's more niche, which can be very interesting for certain brands, but is also very limiting for reaching a wider audience. "It's difficult to make a living from social media creating content in Catalan," explains Blanca Roca. "We have a healthy ecosystem, but it's still small. Very few can make a living from it. We've all played at being directors of the Catalan Broadcasting Corporation, and few people have actually started doing things. More people need to come forward, and not always from the Eva channel," argues Marc Lesan, who... The Arrabassada They have opted for crowdfunding, such as The Cassock either Gods and Apes.

Politicizing language

One of the milestones of Catalan content creation would be precisely that creators don't have to talk specifically about the language, but rather use Catalan naturally to discuss any topic: cooking, fashion, or celebrities. However, the status of Catalan influences everything. "Just by speaking Catalan, you're already engaging in linguistic resistance and, therefore, making a political statement," says Marc Solé (@marcsssole), a newcomer to digital creation who, in just one year, has amassed 35,000 followers by creating content about Catalan customs.

"Especially in the Valencian Community and the islands, it's inevitable to use the language as a political shield and a symbol of identity. Language is a political act because you're choosing to speak the minority language. We're at a point in history where I've decided to be relentless: I use my people 100%. It's necessary to speak out and use the language as an element of cohesion for the people and the country," concludes Fran Tudela from Valencia. Joan S. Moñino, from the Balearic Islands, feels the same way: "With the PP and Vox, there comes a point where you can't separate language and politics. In the islands, if we don't talk about language on social media, I don't know who will."

The influencers They offer some ideas for understanding and turning the situation around. On the one hand, bad habits. "The deepest challenge is changing the attitude of the speakers themselves. Many people know how to speak Catalan, but choose to speak in Spanish, especially in mixed contexts or with strangers. If we don't maintain the language in all situations, Catalan loses strength as a natural language of coexistence, and newcomers don't perceive its necessity," says Mireia Morales, from SOS Català, "Misunderstood Respect." Faced with the growth of the monolingual population, on the other hand, they also see the need to control the narrative, that is, to generate linguistic awareness and combat false arguments "such as 'Catalan is a conflictive language,'" says Solé, or an inaccessible or oppressive language. For Moñino, it is necessary to link language and identity much more closely: "A linguistic discourse has been developed, but a discourse of national consciousness must also be developed, because there is indeed a Spanish national consciousness," she explains.

What can be done?

Regarding specific measures, they point to two fronts. One is political action. "We must ensure our language is respected as if it were the language of a state," Lesan argues. "We can't apologize for asking Catalonia to speak Catalan, and saying this doesn't make you a voter for Aliança Catalana. It's possible to be an open and welcoming country and still demand respect." Solé and Moñino agree: "More promotion of the language and stricter enforcement of existing laws protecting Catalan, such as immersion programs, consumer protection laws, and so on." "I don't think we should try to make Catalan fun; that's like siding with the aggressor instead of the victim. I believe we must maintain Catalan and adopt an empathetic approach, because language is linked to emotions," explains the activist from Parlars Mallorquins. The other front is investment in culture in its broadest sense. Demographer Andreu Domingo calls them "tools of cultural reproduction" for transmitting language and heritage: "Culture, social media, music, and film in Catalan can do more for the language than many laws. And role models for young people are very important, that figures like Aitana Bonmatí, Pau Cubarsí, and Lamine Yamal speak Catalan," says Morales, founder of SOS Català.