Language activists to demonstrate on Sant Jordi against declining use of Catalan 

The Catalan language activism collective Sant Jordi per la Llengua will demonstrate next Wednesday, April 23, in Barcelona under the slogan 'For a future in Catalan, let's recover the people's Barcelona.'

With the aim of fighting against the declining use of the Catalan language, the new grassroots group have organized their demonstration to fall on the celebration of Sant Jordi, one of the most important days of the year for Catalan culture, which is also Catalonia's 'Day of Love.'

Sant Jordi per la Llengua's goal is to "merge all of the collective anger" into one joint platform and to take to the streets on Sant Jordi at 7pm at Plaça de la Universitat. The group will march from Plaça Universitat to Plaça Sant Jaume.

Co-spokesperson of the platform Núria Alcaraz said that they want it to be a demonstration that "leaves behind the victimist discourse" and that it is "a call to get out of pessimism, sadness and frustration."

On Thursday, the group also shared details of another demonstration in Girona. The protest will go from Plaça de la Independència to Plaça Catalunya, where the same manifesto as in Barcelona will be read.

Among the more than 200 organizations that have joined Sant Jordi per la Llengua are Òmnium Cultural, the Catalan National Assembly, and the Tenants' Union.

The manifesto already has around 200 signatures, according to its spokespersons. 

Adrià Font, another spokesperson for the group, said he made a series of requests to the Barcelona City Council, such as linguistic support for newcomers, or campaigns to "raise awareness and denounce linguistic discrimination."