I'm sure I'm not the first person to be asking the question whether Barcelona's official language of Catalan can prove a step too far for some people looking to settle in the city.

Barcelona is a beautiful city and we're thinking of moving out there (we have a son of 12 years old) but it looks as if the language could prove the deciding factor.

If I'm not mistaken Catalan is spoken in Barcelona and taught in schools. However what good is this language outside the city and its environs? Would it be fair to compare this situation with Wales, being a small country with its own language? Are Catalan and Castellano (Spanish) similar languages and/or can one understand the other such as Italian and Spanish?

I don't live in the Catalan speaking area, but have found on visits that castellano is widely understood by many people.

The catalan language is a mixture of castellano and French, so you can get the gist of what's being said if you speak either.

It would be fair to compare the Basque Euskadi language with Welsh.
(or Klingon)

i would be more worried about the thieving taxi drivers

was there for a u2 concert recently,5 taxi trips,4 tried to rip me off,allmost ended in a fight with one of them who tried to charge me 50e for a 7e trip

threats were issued to my wife and i was pulled off by a bystander that told me to be very wary of the taxi mafia there

i will never go again

To my knowledge, it's a fallacy about Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao. Castellano is still the official language. The separists who insist on their obscure language are in the minority, especially when it comes to business.

It's daft really, here we are in a shrinking world and globalisation, and you get sign posts calling Javea Xabia, bon nit instead buenas noches, and once over the Severn bridge anything can happen, with sign posts a mile long.

Let them sing their daft songs and dress up as though they're back in the middle ages while they're waiting for their dole cheques – the giros won'be be in Catalan or Gaelic – if they're really proud, let them send them back.

Dell!

(As for Cornwall wanting seperation – they've already got it along with their own Duchess. The place doesn't even belong to them. If they replaced the Tamar with a high wall, nobody would even notice.)

funny you should mention Javea/Xabia - just before my dd first started in ESO there was a meeting for all the parents of the new kids - the head spoke in Valenciano - he was asked by a parent if he could possibly speak to us all in Castellano, because a lot of the parents (including native spanish speakers) don't speak Valenciano - he said that since Valenciano was the official language he would only speak to us in that language!

the deputy then translated into castellano

my dd chose to swap to 'linea valenciana' - (less foreigners as she puts it, so less chance of disruption in class! - sad, but true) - so all commincation from the school is in Valenciano


I think it's true though, about Valencia city itself - I know born & bred Valencian adults who don't speak a word of Valenciano

agree with Lynnxa......expect its the same as in the Valenciano region and your child would be expected to learn both and if they were in the Catalan stream at school then all lessons would be in Catalan with Castellano taught as a 2nd language...my sons school was Valenciano as the main..in fact he only spoke in Valenciano as we were in a village so spoke the language of the locals ! a bit harder for us aldults to learn (although I can read it pretty well due to the fact of helping with homework and all school letters etc being in Valenciano) not that his mates parents understood that, they thought if he could speak it so could we

There was an article on the radio about the problem that Spanish speakers from South America were having as they could not get employment in the Catalan region unless they first learnt Catalan. It was more of a problem in the small towns and villages than the cities.

Jim

It's not just South Americans either. Spaniards from anywhere in Spain have issues getting work in Barcelona if they don't speak Catalan.

It seems to be a bit of a bug bear with some of the Madrileños that people from Barcelona can come to Madrid and get a job, but the Madrileños can't go to Barcelona for a job unless they first learn another language.

Yes that is 100% correct - When we lived in Barcelona my OH had to go to 3 months of Catalan lessons in order to apply for jobs (and she is Spanish). If you want to live in Barcelona long term and want your child to have a future there then they/you will have to speak Spanish and Catalan.

You will understand bits of Catalan if you are fluent in Spanish, but not enough to converse or work in it. They are quite different with different grammer, vocabulary and spellings. Also, if you speak Spanish but not Catalan you will find it hard to make Catalan friends who are reserved enough as it is.

Catalan is a big and important language and only will get more so if the Catalan government get there own way. There are 11 million speakers in the world.

The situation in Valancia is different. Valenciano is kind of a branch of Catalan, but the difference is that Catalunya used to have its own empire in the world and has spent hundreds of years battling against the Spanish "invaders" so there is local and political will to use Catalan more and more.

Hi, I'm not british I'm from Spain but I thought I could help a bit here if I'm still able to communicate in english.
I am from Valencia and I lived for a year in Catalonia and for three years in England. I speak spanish and catalan.

First of all, if you go to live in Catalonia try not to believe their lies about history. I think this is what happened to cricketman.
Catalonia was never independant and they never had any empire. It was part of the Aragon kingdom together with Valencia Kingdom and Majorca Kingdom, forming the so called "Corona de Aragón". But anyway, there are lots of history books...

Another lie is that there are not 11 million speakers of catalan. There are 11 million people living in areas were catalan is or was spoken, that is different. All those people can speak spanish (500 million speakers around the world), so you can imagine how important catalan is.

Another thing you probably don't know is that catalonia authorities recognize that 51% of catalonia inhabitants have spanish as a mother tongue, but even this, they don´t allow spanish as a school language. Even when it is cooficial. They don´t consider you catalan if you don't speak catalan, even if your family has been living there for centuries. Nazi behavior, I think.

So if you want to go there long term and you have family your sons are going to be learning catalan instead of spanish.

They use language as a political weapon, they modify history. In my opinion this is a great problem, for society. As I said I speak fluent catalan and that is not a problem for me, on the contrary, but it is simply not right.

I'll tell you another thing: if you have a business or a shop in Catalonia and you write your signs, bills or ads in spanish and not in catalan, the catalan government can fine you up to 1000€ or more.

So, in short yes, language is gonna be a problem. I think.

Spain is a crazy country.

Seems I shouldnt have gone gone to the National museum of Catalunya

I agree with you that the Catalan language policies seem rather facist. Which is kind of ironic since these policies are in response to years of Franco's facist policies

I visited Barcelona 2 years ago with 2 Spanish friends - one from Madrid and one from Andalucia. In some places, when they ordered a drink or meal more often than not the waiters were a bit off with them or even made out that they didn't understand. In the end we found it easier if I ordered in English - service was much quicker and friendlier then! Still loved Barcelona though despite that.

I'm not saying catalonia hasn't got a great history. It has. Problem is when politicians want more power and they need to create a different history to justify their aspirations.
It's a pity, Catalonia is probably the most beautiful region of Spain and Barcelona the best city. These facist policies are a big mistake.

Anyway, it's worth a visit.

You have no choice about which language your child is educated in, it's either Catalan or Catalan, with Spanish being taught as a foreign language. Or the other option is to live in an expat bubble and send them to a private "British" school. My local librarian refuses to speak to me in Spanish, as do certain people at the town hall. I have lived in and near Barcelona for 7 years and have very few Catalan friends (not for want of trying), and these few individuals are the husbands of my English friends! I am fluent in Spanish and never "got round to" learning Catalan, partly, I am ashamed to say, because I have never grown to love the language, people or area. This is part of the reason we are moving to Andalucia, as we are craving warmth (of the human variety), a Spanish-speaking education for our son and the chance to buy ourselves a home which is impossible here. Barcelona is great for a certain type of person at a certain stage in their lives, but someone with children moving here may find it quite a challenge. I have friends who would never live anywhere else but they tend to be people who have lived in big cities and who mainly socialise with other foreigners (I have mainly English, US, Dutch and South American friends). You will definitely meet people through school or whatever, but that sense of feeling part of a community may be lacking, and language always rears its head. I live in a town 8km from Barcelona and people are friendly enough (most people here are actually immigrants from other parts of Spain), but friendship stops at the school gate and in the street. I have only been invited to take part in a social activity with other mums twice in the 3 years I have lived here!