1. Sant Jordi has not yet arrived, and the Liceu has already closed its dance season. The four shows this year have received applause and good reviews but, as taste is subjective, they have fallen short of expectations at the time of subscribing. They are good shows –of course– but they haven't stirred our souls in the slightest. They haven't even moved us. I admit that I arrived in a bad mood for the last performance, Nijinsky's. Given that the performance –two and a half hours long– started at half past seven, we decided to grab a bite near the Liceu before the show. The idea, initially, was for a quick, stand-up sandwich. We were looking for a clean, decent place that wasn't a rip-off. After all, with a Rambla under construction that made it difficult to pass, we thought that the pre-prepared trays we saw from the street –labeled in the establishment as "montaditos" and "tapas"– would be a decent option for a two-bite meal. When we entered, they were already surprised that we were locals. Before we sat down, seeing that they weren't going to rip us off, they warned us that we could only pay with bills there. What a surprise! We left with a nagging suspicion and looked for another option.

From this ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia against Catalan (I say “against Catalan” because it seeks to prevent our language from being “armored” in classrooms) a clear conclusion can be drawn: only a state of its own guarantees the legal protection that any official language has in its own territory. It shouldn't necessarily be this way: in a truly plurinational state, Catalan would be as Spanish as Castilian. But that's not the case, and I don't think I'm mistaken if I say it never will be. The only language we have a constitutional duty to know is Castilian. This is proclaimed by Article 3 of the 1978 Constitution, which at the end also states that “the different linguistic modalities of Spain” are a richness “that will be the object of special respect and protection”. Well, it's good that they protect Catalan!  

We're ending the week with gasoline prices climbing and the war escalating. To give you an idea, the US Treasury Department has announced it will temporarily authorize countries to buy Russian oil from tankers in transit.Iran's new supreme leader, son of the previous one, says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed While Netanyahu remains silent and bombs, Trump speaks to continue occupying the center of the stage alone and says things like the increase in fuel prices is bringing many benefits to American companies.

It is well known and evident that the Catalan's health is not at its best. However, among so many discouraging surveys on language useEspecially among younger generations, positive initiatives that inspire optimism and hope are also making a name for themselves. One such project is that of Irene Carreras, a 27-year-old from Girona who, through her social media accounts—where she has amassed over 75,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram—charmingly teaches simple expressions and words to capture the attention of new speakers. Carreras, who was a singer in the second-to-last generation of the family band Macedonia, often appears in her videos with her grandmother Dolors, who revives obsolete vocabulary, expressions, and idioms. And, thanks to her online presence, she has already begun offering online courses. More than 500 students at the basic and intermediate levels.

Catalan has been sunk by people who claim it wasn't already sinking. Liars. Frauds. Polished cowards, not enlightened ones. Delusional about the afterlife. Choose death. The worst thing in this life is when someone tries to tell you your life story when they haven't a clue about life, or about your life. It's like sweeping the dirt under the rug: you keep sweeping it under the rug so nothing can be seen until that mountain range, those Pyrenees, starts to rise... And you trip and everything gets messed up. Yes, Catalan is atomic shit.

We have an important figure regarding financing, which hasn't been published anywhere, that we'll discuss shortly. But first, President Pujol continues to recover well from the pneumonia for which he was hospitalized and could be discharged relatively soon. This would allow him to appear remotely before the judge of the National Court next Monday, with Pujol in Barcelona and the judge in Madrid. This appearance is clearly designed to target Pujol, because it will allow the judge to decide whether the former president is fit to testify at his trial or not, when it turns out that forensic doctors have prepared a report for the judge confirming what we already told you yesterday in our analysis: that Pujol is not fit to testify or defend himself. And so, the question is: if the doctors appointed by the court to evaluate Pujol's condition... You've already been told that he's not in a condition to testify.Why are you summoning him to appear? Should a judge medically evaluate a person? It's just wishful thinking.

Bad times for Catalan, also in public administrations. A judge of the administrative court of Barcelona has applied a rigorous The proportionality test regarding the requirement of a B2 level of Catalan to work as a cemetery worker in Vic is problematic, even though it is an upper-intermediate (or advanced-intermediate) level, which, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), means that you are able to express yourself fluently in everyday and professional situations without difficulty. This is the same requirement established in the terms of the call for applications for two multi-skilled driver positions at the Catalan Parliament, which are also being challenged.

When you open your phone every morning or turn on your computer to work, what language do you see on the screen? If you are a Catalan speaker and the answer isn't "Catalan," you are part of a majority that, without realizing it, is limiting the language's presence in the digital realm. The data indicates this: only one in five Internet users in Catalan-speaking states browse with their device configured in Catalan. This has important implications for the digital future of Catalan.

Forty years ago, RS walked into a bar in the Sants neighborhood, ordered a café con leche, and the owner didn't understand him. He repeated it in Catalan. But the owner told him that "we are in Spain". A person next to him told him he should be more understanding with newcomers. He added: After all, Catalan is the language of the majority, and the majority should show solidarity with the minority."

Forty years ago, RS walked into a bar in the Sants neighborhood, ordered a café con leche, and the owner didn't understand him. He repeated it in Catalan. But the owner told him that "we are in Spain". A person next to him told him he should be more understanding with newcomers. He added: After all, Catalan is the language of the majority, and the majority should show solidarity with the minority."

The data from the Survey of Language Uses of the Population are worrying, but not dramatic. We already knew that the x-ray would come out with long shadows. The alarm bells have been ringing for some time. However, it is not so much that the number of speakers is decreasing – there is a drop in absolute terms, but not much –; rather that the strong population growth has not been accompanied by a full and habitual incorporation of Catalan. Demography is crucial in the collective portrait that we have now.