Practicing sports in Catalan at Barcelona gyms? Mission impossible.

BarcelonaIf any sport can make you sweat your guts out in Barcelona, it's trying to find gym classes in Catalan. In the municipal sports centers (CEM), which are public sports facilities, Catalan appears to be the official language (on signs, on the website, and online). However, this directive doesn't translate into the classes. Laia does bodypump at the Joan Miró CEM in the New Left of Eixample and certifies that "many teachers are Catalan speakers and greet students in Catalan, but classes are generally in Spanish, except for swimming with the little ones." If you ask them by phone, the receptionist first responds that the classes are "in Spanish," then corrects them by saying they are "in Catalan," and finally offers to switch to Spanish if anyone doesn't understand.

The same thing happens at other centers. Nowhere is the language of the activities indicated, no one supervises the teachers, and complaints fall on deaf ears. Cinta has filed complaints with the Claror CEM in Clot and the Claror CEM in Sagrada Família because the vast majority of classes are in Spanish, and has never received a response. On the phone, however, they also assure us that all classes are in Catalan, except when there are substitute teachers. Núria takes her baby to swimming at the Cotxeres Borbó CEM in Nou Barris, where the instructor adapts to individual families, but the group classes are in Spanish.

Pau has been a member at different stages of the Aiguajoc CEM in Sant Antoni and doesn't remember "a single class in Catalan." "They say 'good morning' and 'goodbye', and in between everything is in Spanish; maybe every once in a while an expression is in Catalan." She complained to the City Council, and the company's response was that the classes were already in Catalan. "They listened to the contractor, who, logically, is an interested party. No one supervises the companies," Pau laments.

What should the centers do?

"Municipal gyms are required to offer classes in Catalan. The concessionaires must offer at least half of their services in Catalan, and customers must have the option to choose the language, and this isn't being met," argues Xavier Dengra, Business and Consumer Affairs Coordinator of Plataforma por la Llen, regarding the regulation. Neither does the Agència Catalana del Consum (Catalan Consumer Agency). Plataforma per la Llengua received 39 complaints from public and private centers in Catalonia last year, ten of which were from municipal facilities, such as the CEM Putxet, Ciutadella, Joan Miró, and Sagrada Família.

This Friday, ERC presented a request to the Barcelona City Council plenary session for the municipal government to include language clauses in the management of municipal sports centers, as stipulated in the Municipal Regulations on the Use of the Catalan Language (RULC). They are asking that employees know Catalan and that at least activities be carried out in Catalan "to respect the linguistic rights of Catalan speakers," according to Councilor Jordi Castellana. Mayor Collboni stated that this clause already exists and that he shares the ERC's assessment: "Catalan must be a reality in everyday life and in regular use in the city's gyms." However, he did not clarify how he will oversee compliance with the contracts.

Private gyms, most of which are large chains, according to the language policy law and the consumer code, are only required to offer information in Catalan, but not the classes taught. "The instructor must understand you but not respond in Catalan," Dengra clarifies, although many gyms don't even meet the minimum signage requirements. Plataforma has reported the Basic-Fit chain to the Catalan Consumer Agency for this. "We need consumers to complain, request classes in Catalan from the gym, and cancel their subscription with a refund for this problem. If not, there will be no change," laments the Platform coordinator.

A problem with words?

It is true that new exercises and training sessions are always appearing, often with names derived from English (crossfit, bodypump, etc.), and language must follow suit. One of the unknown problems is that many sports coaches prepare classes with packages that arrive from Australia, where many specialized companies exist. "These packages arrive translated into Spanish, so many teachers give this to clients," says Dengra, who proposes translating this information and training teachers in linguistic sensitivity.

But the problem with Catalan in gyms isn't, as it might superficially appear, the fact that there aren't enough words to say. squats either lungas in our language – they translate as squats and scissors – but rather "these words are not popular precisely because Catalan is not used normally in many contexts, such as in gyms, and this means that unique forms are not created naturally," says Joan Rebagliato, a sports specialist at Termcat, the Catalan terminology center. "The big problem is the contexts in which Catalan is used. In gyms, it is difficult for Catalan to penetrate, and it is very important to ensure that Catalan is spoken naturally, because it is a space clearly inserted in the daily lives of many people," the linguist affirms. "Health, sports, and leisure are key areas because they are spaces for socialization in which, if Catalan is not present, it loses ground in the linguistic landscape of the city," concludes Xavier Dengra.