Barcelona City Council will update inspection procedures and communication rules to ensure that the rights of Catalan speakers are respected in shops and restaurants. The move comes after several reported incidents of ‘catalanophobia’, including one at an ice-cream parlour in Gràcia earlier this summer.
Marta Salicrú, appointed in July as Commissioner for the Social Use of Catalan, confirmed the initiative as part of a wider programme to reinforce the visibility and daily use of the language. She stressed the importance of safeguarding consumer rights: ‘It is about guaranteeing respect for the linguistic provisions of the Consumer Code.’
The first step will be a revision of municipal inspection protocols, making sure inspectors check compliance with linguistic regulations in all establishments. Alongside this, the City Council will improve how it communicates the law to new business owners so that obligations are clear from the outset.
Salicrú also announced a partnership with the Restaurant Guild of Barcelona to design measures that will slow what she described as a regression of Catalan in the hospitality sector. In parallel, the council is backing the creation of Barcelona’s Casa de la Creació de Contingut Digital en Català (House of Digital Content Creation in Catalan), intended to establish the city as a European reference point for promoting minority languages in the digital space. The project, led by the Accent Obert Foundation, will unfold in three phases between 2025 and 2027.
By combining enforcement with cultural promotion, Barcelona’s leaders aim to strengthen the presence of Catalan in everyday life—from restaurant menus to digital platforms—reasserting the city’s role as a guardian of linguistic diversity.
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