I've just arrived from Mexico and I'm struck by the paradox that I suddenly hear less Catalan spoken in Barcelona than at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL). The FIL was a fabulous bubble of self-esteem. It was full of Catalan-language authors—74% of the invited authors wrote in the country's own language—and those who write in Spanish, who for obvious reasons were the most successful there—Javier Cercas or Eduardo Mendoza—naturally also frequently used Catalan in private conversations.