More than 300 languages spoken in Barcelona

Most spoken languages after Catalan and Spanish are Berber, Arabic, Bengali, and Urdu

Linguapax president Mònica Pereña presenting a report on linguistic diversity (by Pau Cortina)
Linguapax president Mònica Pereña presenting a report on linguistic diversity (by Pau Cortina) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

November 27, 2019 12:53 PM

There are more than 300 languages spoken in Barcelona, a city with residents of 174 nationalities according to a Linguapax report published for the International Year of Indigenous Languages.

The linguistic diversity association's study, which describes Barcelona as a "cosmopolitan," affirms that the city reflects the world's linguistic diversity.

Furthermore, according to the University of Barcelona's Endangered Languages study group, after Catalonia's two co-official languages, Catalan and Spanish, the most spoken languages in the city are Berber, Arabic, Bengali, and Urdu.

The Linguapax report also states that there are 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, of which 2,464 are endangered.

Mònica Pereña, the association's president, argues that linguistic diversity is an asset that should be protected by everyone and says that the city council already does so to an extent by allowing speakers of other languages to participate in neighborhood assemblies or by offering resources in other languages at public libraries, for example. 

Both Linguapax and the Barcelona city council are behind a new campaign to promote minority languages called 'Barcelona speaks to you. Barcelona understands you in more than 300 languages' ('Barcelona et parla. Barcelona t’entén en més de 300 llengües').