Nearly half of Barcelona's waiting staff don't speak Catalan

Getting served in Catalan in Barcelona is becoming increasingly difficult, as nearly half of the city’s bar and restaurant staff cannot speak the language.

This is the main finding of a study by the city council, which shows that 47.6% of waiting staff in establishments with fewer than ten employees, the majority in the city, are unable to speak Catalan.

The study, which collected data from around a thousand bars and restaurants, also found that one in four staff members do not even understand the language.

These figures mark a notable shift, falling three points compared to 2023. Such low levels of Catalan use have not been recorded since 2016, following years of gradual decline in the Catalan capital.

Catalan usage has also declined in bar signage: 65% of signs are in Catalan, down 8% from 2023, while one in four are in Spanish and 13.5% are in English.

The situation is slightly better in local businesses, where 76% of employees speak Catalan and nearly 90% understand it. However, these figures are also the lowest recorded in recent years.

City council pushes for more Catalan

To improve the use of Catalan in the city, the city council approved its adhesion to the National Pact for the Language on Friday, the same day the study was released.

"We need to ensure that more people in Barcelona speak, feel, and live their language, Catalan," said mayor Jaume Collboni.

The plan is a Catalonia-wide initiative recently approved by the government.

With an investment of €255 million in 2025, it aims to increase the number of Catalan speakers by at least 600,000 over the next five and a half years, reaching a total of six million speakers by 2030.