Passeig de Gràcia, 90: where catalan meets the EU

Abstract

Linguistic diversity in Europe is something we Europeans can and should be proud of. One of the aspects to maintain this diversity should be establishing legal regulations for the preservation of languages, such as promoting and supporting language learning in education and training all over the European Union (EU). We also must grant the possibility to speak them in all circumstances.

The Catalan language demonstrates a special case in this matter. In Spain, under the 1978 Constitution, Catalan has joint official status with Spanish, but only in the autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and in Valencia.[i] On EU level, Catalan is recognized, but not as an EU-official language. Compared to other languages with the same number of speakers, its linguistic legislation in the EU is quite scarce.