Speaking Catalan Now Second Cause of Discrimination in Barcelona
Barcelona logged 284 complaints in 2025 from people treated unfairly for speaking Catalan, second only to racism. Here is what the city report found.
Speaking Catalan was the second most common reason for discrimination complaints in Barcelona in 2025, according to the city’s Observatory of Discriminations, as reported by Ara. The observatory counted 284 complaints over language last year, behind only the 348 filed for racism and xenophobia.
The jump is sharp. In the 2024 report, language accounted for 192 cases and ranked fifth.
What happened to people who spoke Catalan
The report describes residents trying to do ordinary things in Catalan, such as ordering at a bar or restaurant, sorting out a medical matter or renewing documents. Some were told to switch to Spanish. Others found no paperwork available in Catalan, and some were refused service. Private businesses and organizations were the main source of these complaints, the report says.
Plataforma per la Llengua (a group that campaigns for the Catalan language) said in a statement that the figures show a “sustained and especially worrying trend”. The group wants stronger ways to report cases, more language obligations for companies and public bodies, and an end to what it calls the “impunity” of discrimination against Catalan speakers.
Total cases up 14.8% in a year
Across all causes, the observatory recorded 1,265 situations of discrimination in 2025, 14.8% more than the year before. Maria Eugènia Gay, Barcelona’s second deputy mayor, warned that many more cases are never reported.
For the first time, the public administration was the main party accused of discrimination. Jaume Muñoz, head of the City Council’s Human Rights and Non-Discrimination department, said this was driven mostly by complaints about healthcare, which was the third reason for discrimination with 268 complaints. In the 2024 report, public administration ranked third among those accused.
Muñoz said the pattern depends on who is involved:
- When police or private security are accused, the main reason is racism and xenophobia.
- When private companies and entities are accused, the main reason is language.
- Cases of LGBTI-phobia are committed mostly by individuals, he said.
Why it matters for people living in Barcelona
The report touches daily life in the city: bars, shops, clinics and offices where residents handle health and paperwork. Language complaints now outnumber those about healthcare, and only racism and xenophobia generate more reports. For the Ajuntament de Barcelona (Barcelona City Council), the healthcare figures matter too, since public services are now the most cited source of discrimination overall.
Muñoz said the observatory went from 265 registered cases in 2018 to 1,265 last year. He argued the rise does not mean discrimination has grown exponentially. In his view, better tools to detect cases explain part of it, and he said work against underreporting “is yielding results”.
Who reports discrimination
Most of the people affected are women, according to Muñoz. Most of those who file complaints have regular legal status, with a DNI (Spanish national ID) or NIE (foreigner identity number). He added that many more people without regular status, refugees and asylum seekers face discrimination in the city than the figures show.
Source: Ara
