Use of Catalan declining, now the first language of less than one-third of people

The use and knowledge of the Catalan language is declining. 

Catalan is now the first language of less than one-third of the Catalan population, down by 3.5 percentage points compared to five years ago. This is the lowest the language has been used in at least 20 years, according to a survey undertaken by the Department of Language Policy presented on Wednesday.

Knowledge of the language is also down slightly compared to the last survey, taken in 2020. Such surveys are undertaken every five years. 

Those who use Spanish as their first language drop two points to 46.5%.

According to the findings, 93.4% of the population understand Catalan, a drop of one percentage point compared to the last results, while 80.4% can speak it, 84.1% can read it, and 65.6% can write it. 

The long-term trend of knowledge of the language is moving downward, since those who understand it have fallen by three points in 20 years, and those who can read it have fallen by five.

Declining use

Catalan is now the only mother tongue of fewer than three in ten residents aged 15 or over.

In 2003, it was spoken by 36.2% of the population, a figure that fell by five points a decade later. The survey results published on Wednesday show that now only 29% of the population consider it as their only first language.

For the Spanish language, the dynamics are similar throughout the historical series. At the beginning of the century, 56.1% of people said Spanish was their only mother tongue, while this dropped to 52.7% in 2018 and now to 49.2%.

In other words, for the first time, less than half of Catalans say that Spanish is their sole mother tongue.

In 2003, the first year with data from the survey, 46% of the population aged 15 or over declared that they used Catalan as their first language.

The figure dropped significantly in the following five years to 35.6%, coinciding with a sharp population increase due to the wave of migration in the first decade of this century.

Since then, the figures have remained stable, but between 2018 and 2023, the use of the language saw a further decline to 32.6%, the lowest in at least 20 years.

The falls in both languages ​​are partly offset by an increase in people who declare that they use both Catalan and Spanish as their first languages. Nearly one in ten residents fall into this category.

Calls to halt "linguistic emergency"

Politicians and other social actors have reacted to the latest figures published showing the decline in the use of Catalan.

Catalan president Salvador Illa highlighted the importance of making Catalan an official EU language, arguing it would "strengthen European sentiment."

The president assured that both the Catalan and Spanish governments, both led by the Socialist Party, are working together to ensure the future strength of the language.

Among the points they are working on are the use of the language in institutions and Catalan's status as an official European language.

Pro-independence civic group Òmnium Cultural has called on the government to “provide an immediate response” to the waiting lists to get a place in Catalan classes.

President of the entity, Xavier Antich, told gathered reporters in Barcelona that there are more than two million people who want to learn Catalan or improve it and that “this demand is not being met.”

For Junts, the largest pro-independence political party, the latest news provides "some concern." 

Their MP in the Catalan parliament Francesc Ten said that schools are not achieving the use of the Catalan language among young people. He also pointed the finger of blame at the Spanish government, criticizing a lack of help.

Far-left pro-independence party CUP criticized the Catalan government for "not mentioning" that the Spanish government and "structural linguistic discrimination" are behind the decline of the language.

Their MP Pilar Castillejo expressed her "concern" about the figures made public on Wednesday. In a media briefing, she also criticized the "indifference" of the last Catalan administrations, "with policies that are not very committed, cuts in culture and education, ignoring the linguistic emergency, or subordinating themselves to Spain and the Spanish courts."

Meanwhile, the collective of Barcelona Street Sellers, Top Manta, has denounced that the administration makes it "almost impossible" for migrants to learn Catalan, despite them wanting to. 

The group criticized the "serious difficulties" in accessing courses to learn the language, and they want to see a "decisive policy to extend Catalan courses."