Only 65% of shop signs in Barcelona are in Catalan, down from 73% two years ago, according to new council data. Meanwhile Spanish and English signage is on the rise, with a third of all shops now displaying signs in these languages rather than Catalan.
The figures come from a survey of 2,411 shop owners and managers across the city. Spanish accounts for 24% of shop signs whilst English has reached a historic high at 13.5%, up from 11.6% last year. English signs are particularly concentrated in the city centre.
Language use behind the counter is even more concerning for Catalan. Nearly half of bar staff (47.6%) don’t speak Catalan, and a quarter don’t even understand it, according to owners of 1,000 hospitality venues surveyed. This is the lowest level recorded in the historical data series.
Shop workers fare better, with 76.5% speaking Catalan and 89.7% understanding it. However, these percentages also represent the lowest point in the survey’s history. After a significant drop during the 2015-2016 economic crisis, language skills had recovered strongly, but the pandemic reversed this upward trend.
The data shows how Barcelona’s commercial landscape is shifting linguistically, particularly as tourism and international business continue to reshape the city’s retail and hospitality sectors.
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