Languages are not only useful for conversation, but also for legislating, negotiating, defending rights, and building societies. Catalan is one of them. And in the Balearic Islands, this reality takes on a special dimension: the native language coexists with a rich legal tradition that is part of the identity of the Islands and remains fully in force.

Rubén Viñuales (Tarragona, 1983) left Ciutadans six years ago for the PSC, with whom he reached the mayoralty of Tarragona in 2023. Since then, he has governed in minority, but has been able to approve, with relative ease, the budgets by closing pacts with different parties. In this interview conducted at the Diari ARA newsroom, he talks about his city, but also about the far-right, judges, and the use of Catalan.

The Spanish Supreme Court rules “the use of Spanish in the signage of educational centers” supported by public funds cannot be excluded. In the ruling, therefore, an entire section of the document on the organization and management of educational centers (approved by the Department of Education in July 2022) is annulled, which stated that “the signage of the center's spaces is in Catalan, Occitan in Aran, and in Catalan Sign Language if applicable”. It annuls it (and thus shows us that what can be decreed by a government is useless) due to an appeal filed by the Assembly for a Bilingual School, and which the high court has “upheld”. I say “upheld” because that is what is said in legal language, but the polysemy in our language does not bother me.

The history of Spanish state nationalism is a history of repressions against minorities. One of the most persistent repressive fronts is the linguistic one: if we were to print all the jurisprudence that has been generated —only in democracy: we don't need to go back to the Decree of Nova Planta— to deprotect Catalan and relegate it from social use, and to reinforce, on the contrary, the presence and use of Spanish, we would have paper to wallpaper the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. And with all certainty, there would still be some left over.The new ruling is from the Supreme Court, and it corrects the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), which has imposed with various rulings the 25% of Spanish in teaching hours, even —or especially— against the linguistic regulations set by the Generalitat. But the brand new ruling from the Supreme Court comes to say that the TSJC's efforts are not enough: now they also rule on the language in which the signage of schools and educational centers must be done. As they themselves say, “signage is not irrelevant”. The ruling states that school signage can be in the bilingual Spanish/Catalan version, but what is certain is that, at a minimum, it must be in Spanish. Argument to support this? “Spanish is the official language throughout Spain, which means it is a language that cannot be excluded from communications between public authorities and citizens". This is an argument that closely approaches the phrase that serves as the title of this article, a slogan that the Spanish state disseminated in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community during the Franco dictatorship. It resembles it perhaps not so much in letter, but in spirit.That Spanish is “the official language throughout Spain”, as the ruling emphasizes, is not an accidental fact nor the fruit of divine grace. Without going back to historical explanations, Spanish is “the official language throughout Spain” because the Constitution of '78, in an article 3 that the ruling also cites, establishes it as such in the current democratic stage: Spanish is official throughout the Spanish state and it is a duty for Spanish citizens to know it, while “other languages” (not mentioned by name) are recognized the “right to be used” and to be “also official in their respective autonomous communities” (not co-official, this is a term that further diminishes the official presence of Catalan and which incomprehensibly many repeat like parrots).Therefore, the Constitution enshrines a principle of inequality that serves as a legal argument for a ruling that is ideological and political. There is in this ruling a component of the day and another of substance. Of the day: whoever can do it, let them do it, that is, a bombardment of rulings that could destabilize the Sánchez government through its relationship with Catalan partners, especially Junts. Of substance: an eternal nationalism whose raison d'être lies in the fight against diversity in all its forms. Also (perhaps especially) against linguistic and cultural diversity.

Shaun Debnath (Barcelona, 2004) was born and raised in El Raval. He is a content creator and defines himself as "Catalan, Indian, and gay: triple threat". We meet in the gardens of the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona, where, between study hours for his computer engineering exams (a detail he mentions in a low voice so as not to reinforce stereotypes), he grants us some time to talk about his experience on social media.

It often happens to me – and I take for granted it's a generational thing – that in my circle, the fact that my husband and I don't watch series or movies together is met with surprise. I say it must be generational because only people our age remember when families used to gather to watch TV, all at the same time and on the same channel.

We tend to think that Europe has been as it is for a long time. But no. The Europe we know, with its countries and languages, was born dizzyingly between 1870 and 1871. And this continental Big Bang exploded because of a Catalan, General Joan Prim.

1. The ECHR's decision regarding the presence of the Catalan language in the education system has probably been the hardest blow this issue has received since the TC's ruling against the 2006 Statute.

I suppose you are aware of the news that the European Court of Human Rights has dismissed the lawsuit by parents of the Canet de Mar school against the ruling that ordered 25% of classes to be taught in Spanish.

The Catalan linguistic immersion model, which has weakened over the years and with social changes, is one of the fronts that needs to be reformulated to improve the situation of Catalan. When asked how, the Minister of Linguistic Policy points to Northern Catalonia. "La Bressola has an immersion model that, with 2% Catalan-speaking students, manages to make Catalan the language among equals without adult supervision. If this is possible in its context, it must be possible in other centers," he stated in the last interview with ARA. In Catalonia, only half of 6th graders always speak Catalan with teachers and only one in four always speaks Catalan when doing group work with classmates. Outside the classroom, 60% of students do not use Catalan with their peers. How do they manage at La Bressola to ensure students actually converse in Catalan in the classroom, playground, and dining hall?

The popular singing of La Balanguera on Friday in Mallorca was a massive success. Tens of thousands of Mallorcans took to the streets and squares (or to educational centers, as was the case for many students) to participate in an act of affirmation as a country, as a society, and as a cultural and linguistic community that recognizes itself in a series of references and in a common heritage.The most valuable element of this common heritage is the Catalan language: Majorcans have been speaking Catalan for eight hundred years and it is the native language of the Balearic Islands. Catalan from Mallorca, speaking it and sharing it, is the attribute that identifies us as Majorcans and it is the best we can offer to people arriving on the island, as immigrants or for whatever reason. Catalan is the tool that will allow them to live fully as Majorcans, the instrument that will allow them to share their own cultural and linguistic contributions. That is why it is so, so important.At the same time, Catalan finds itself in a delicate situation in Mallorca due to linguistic gentrification, which corresponds with territorial, housing, labor, and economic gentrification. Gentrification as a synonym for overexploitation and speculation. The protests of Majorcans in defense of the language and public school (two things that go together) are also against this reality, in which the exaggerated economic benefits of a few come at the cost of the common good and enormous inequalities among the citizens of this island.The mobilizations of Mallorcans for Catalan are successful. This first performance of La Balanguera has been, as was, a few weeks ago, the arrival of the Correllengua Agermanat flame in Palma, or the Yes to the language of 2024 and 2025: large protest demonstrations, with strong participation and presence of young people who do move and commit themselves to defending Catalan. The entity that has promoted the mobilizations (or has supported them, in the case of Correllengua Agermanat, organized by a conglomerate of entities) is the Obra Cultural Balear, which has addressed its demands to a deaf PP government with its back turned, which has made it its main priority to please the far-right and ultra-Spanishist allies of Vox. The novelty in the performance of La Balanguera was that the main institutional representatives of the PP of the Balearic Islands attended: the President of the Government, Marga Prohens; the President of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés; and the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez. It has been a show of skill by the president of the OCB, Antoni Llabrés, and his team to have left these rulers literally without excuses for not joining an act that could only annoy fanatics. At the same time, it forces them to review the calamitous linguistic and educational policy they have pursued so far. The opposition parties also have duties, and they are not minor: all this citizen energy hopes to find a channel, a political articulation, proposals that make them vote with enthusiasm.

Have a creative idea? Is it in Catalan? Do you want to make it shine? The Carulla Foundation is once again opening a call to find the most innovative ideas to promote the use of Catalan. The second edition of Call for ideas for Catalan seeks new cultural projects, allocating up to €40,000 in a new call that ends on June 5.

“A coffee with milk and two croissants, these, with ham and cheese”, I tell her. She opens her eyes not like plates, like platters, like trays, like saucers, like industrial lids. She says nothing. She stares at me without moving a muscle. Not a word. So, I stare back at her. Her and me, staring at each other intently, like in a duel. Finally, to break the ice, I say: “Yes?” That slightly impertinent “yes” you use when you think someone hasn’t understood you but should have, or when someone is distracted and isn’t paying attention. She remains astonished; but does she know she is astonished? I don’t think so, because she surely doesn’t know the meaning of the word, and if she doesn’t know it, she can’t, in any way, name what is happening to her. If you simplify language, you simplify feelings.

On Tuesday, on Telenotícies vespre, we were informed of the creation of the office for the protection of linguistic rights by the government of the Generalitat. It is born with the intention of accompanying people who wish to file complaints regarding possible violations in the use of the language. This was communicated by Salvador Illa at the event celebrating the first anniversary of the National Pact for Language, where the Minister of Linguistic Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila, admitted that there was still work to be done. And he is right. The same day, during the very long commercial break of El petit peó, the Sense ficció dedicated to Arturito Pomar, we thought about this news. We swallowed ten minutes of ads: a total of twenty-five spots and four self-promotions from the channel. During this commercial break, three ads in Spanish appeared, which, coincidentally or not, were broadcast consecutively. The first was an advertisement for Gillette razor blades designed for female users. Lo and behold, the presenter was the influencer Laura Escanes, who told us that “Hay días que necesito tiempo para mí” and that “el mango pivotante me deja la piel suave incluso en zonas difíciles”. Taking into account that the content creator is part of the channel's roster of signings, it is strange to see her on the same television for which she works addressing the audience in Spanish. Of course, it is not her fault but that of the commercial department, which should take into account this type of contradiction. In the same commercial break, we saw an advertisement for adhesive silicones where the veteran journalist Pedro Piqueras spoke in Catalan with an expert on this product. The other ad in Spanish was for Michelin. If other international brands like Bimbo, Ikea, Carrefour, and Verisure are interested in advertising on TV3 in Catalan (and this is what happened during this long break), surely the very famous tire brand could also do so. Considering the number of Catalan chefs awarded stars by their guide, they know perfectly well that Catalonia has its own cultural identity and language. The other ad in Spanish was, lo and behold, from the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda. A spot narrated in Spanish and subtitled in Catalan. Thanks for the detail. But it is outrageous that an advertisement from a ministry of Spain is not recorded in the different co-official languages of the State. Take note, Councillor Vila. It is unheard of that the Spanish government uses Catalan public television to communicate with citizens in a language that is not the channel's own, because this reinforces the idea that in the institutional sphere, Spanish is the universal main language and Catalan, in subtitles, is of an inferior rank. Normalizing exceptions makes the duty to advertise in Catalan on TV3 lose its meaning. If some companies don't do it, why should others? It deactivates the possibility of applying a criterion and turns it into an inconsistency. And inconsistency affects the legitimacy of any future demand. 

In the endless debate about the state of health of the Catalan language, it happens, as in so many other areas, that we often guide ourselves by our perceptions and impressions rather than by careful analysis of the data. In the case of language, moreover, it seems to be true that every Catalan carries a sociolinguist within. It is evident, in any case, that it is not a debate that we can face with complete coolness, free from worries and even anxieties, because we have the perception that too much is at stake: we project into the uncertain future of the language the uncertain future of all of us as a society.

3Cat's SX3, with funding from Grup Transversal, this week opened the doors of Fantàstix, a new cultural, family, and immersive experience focused on the power of stories, imagination, and the active participation of children. Located in the Sagrada Família neighborhood, the space, which was a former 2,000-square-meter parking lot, has been transformed into a "factory of imagination," where the narrative focuses on the premise of recovering the power of storytelling, which has disappeared from the world. The project's intention is to become a new meeting point for families, the educational world, and Catalan children's and youth culture.

I've been in Andalusia for a few days and I've had a curious feeling of well-being, not new, because it reminds me of a recent stay in Madrid, under totally different circumstances. I soon deduced that the reason for this well-being is the language. More precisely, the absence of linguistic stress that we Catalans suffer in our daily lives. When I move around the territories of monolingual Spain, my brain clicks and frees itself from linguistic unease: here Spanish is spoken, only Spanish, and there's nothing to discuss. Then the relationship with others, with people, is simplified from the outset, the conversation flows and lengthens, and after a short while this linguistic truce translates into physical relaxation; the brain feels it has been freed from a nuisance.No matter how much they tell us that bilingualism is a richness, the truth is that an undisputed lingua franca greatly facilitates human relationships. And in most cities and countries, the language of collective relation is one and sufficient. In Barcelona and a good part of Catalonia, for mental, social, and finally demographic reasons, the lingua franca is Spanish, and we who consider that Catalan needs our firmness as much as the empathy of others, like a good legal umbrella, rebel against this fact. But we Catalan speakers socialize with the certainty that every day we expose ourselves to potentially conflictive situations. If we always speak Catalan – as is our right, and as sociolinguists recommend – we risk not being understood, having to repeat everything twice, enduring scowls and perhaps some exclamation, being labeled as intolerant, xenophobic, and even unsociable. And even if our Spanish-speaking interlocutor is receptive, empathetic, or has understood that life will be better with Catalan (which is what should be), often the conversation that arises is too basic, orthopedic, like tourists, and the linguistic stress remains.If, on the other hand, we switch to the other person's language (out of "politeness", laziness, to avoid unpleasantness, or because simply the future of Catalan doesn't matter to us that much), we are condemned to a second added linguistic stress: the one that comes from guilt, the little voice inside (or outside, for that there are social networks) that tells us we're doing it wrong, that it will be of little use to invest in normalization if Catalan speakers don't always speak it, risking spoiling our day, or catching a cold, or who knows what.I understand very well the frustration of the Pakistani or Honduran citizen who, after taking the relevant Catalan course, cannot practice it because the natives take for granted that he won't understand. But that's usually the case: the vast majority of foreigners do not understand Catalan nor do they speak it (they haven't needed to). And it comes to a moment for all of us when linguistic stress asks for a truce. Or for a little affection: Catalan speakers, in addition to demanding firmness, must also be reminded that the decline of Catalan is not their fault, and they must be thanked for the sum of small and large gestures that have allowed our language to survive centuries of aggression.I'm writing this on the plane that's taking me from Seville to Barcelona. In the boarding queue, a lovely elderly couple approached me with a smile: "You used to be on TV3, right? You're not on now. Let's see if you come back!"

The CRIT Awards, which recognize and promote digital audiovisual projects in Catalan, celebrated their second edition yesterday at the Teatre Coliseum in Barcelona. Presented by Núria Marín, a total of 14 projects were recognized at the gala, with an attendance of 1,200 professionals and creators, including producers, journalists, and members of the Catalan audiovisual industry. This year's edition highlights the highest recognition for best creator of the year, which went to Laura Grau, and the podcast Guarres!, whose characters were interviewed by l'ARA a few weeks ago, as the best independent project.

I telephone – and it’s a rarity to do so – the organizer of a literary festival where I am to "participate" with other colleagues. I had lost the tickets she sent to my mobile and wanted to ask for them again. From the other side of the telephone, and of the sea, she tells me: “Don’t worry, you’ll have them right away.”

After the frustration caused by the end of the Procés, Catalanism has been forced to review its strategy. Someone synthesized the analysis: "In trying to achieve our own state, we have neglected the nation." With the goal of the state out of the immediate radar, the return to concern for national construction has been imposed. And, singularly, for the language, which has historically been its articulating axis.