A Correllengua for history: "They will not kill Catalan"

PalmaThe Correllengua Agermanat 2026 reached its end with a resounding success, that of becoming a historic mobilization in defense of the Catalan language. During the two weeks of its duration, more than 180,000 people have participated in this first edition, covering 1,500 kilometers, passing through 500 municipalities, and 30,000 people have been torchbearers. The spokesperson for Correllengua Agermanat, Pau Emili Muñoz, assures that the event's success is "a demonstration of strength" and emphasizes it as follows: "As a society, Catalan-speaking territories have regained the enthusiasm to fight for the Catalan language and demand its real normalization".

From April 19, when the flame was lit in front of the tomb of Pompeu Fabra in Prada de Conflent, until May 5, when the final point was put in Alghero, coinciding with the festival of Sant Joan de la Porta Llatina (which commemorates the victory of the Alghero people against the French and Sassari), Catalan-speaking territories have become a scene of vindication. Traveling through Catalonia, the Valencian Country, the Balearic Islands, and Alghero, Correllengua Agermanat has served to recover the sense of belonging and the desire to fight to defend the Catalan language. Josep Buades, coordinator of Joves per la Llengua (organizing entity), has celebrated its success and great participation and argued that "in the moment of disillusionment we are experiencing, Correllengua has managed to recover enthusiasm, the fight, create communities and networks, and has become a tool for unity to fight for what is ours and they are attacking: the Catalan language".

Thus, this mobilization has highlighted the vitality of the language movement and has advocated for the need for fraternal linguistic policies that, beyond administrative borders, guarantee the full normalization of Catalan in all territories that share it. Furthermore, it has emphasized the need for joint and fraternal policies to guarantee the future of Catalan. For this reason, as an epilogue to the journey, the flame travels to the seat of the European Parliament, in Brussels, to demand the official status of Catalan in the European Union.

Both Buades and Muñoz agree that the Correllengua Agermanat must be another tool to "unite and fight together, create a social mass that takes a step forward and defends Catalan". "It has become clear that Catalan-speaking society has regained its enthusiasm and will not be defeated by the far-right, that Catalan has people to stand up and survive", they have stated.

All managed by volunteers

Another of the great successes of this Correllengua Agermanat 2026 has been the active participation. The organization did not hire anyone, all the work was disinterested and done by people committed to the cause who wanted to contribute their grain of sand to make this a collaborative and shared event among the Catalan-speaking territories.

From the smallest task to the most tedious one, anonymous people did it, a fact that the organization celebrates and expresses pride in. "The people have done a great job and they have done it for Catalan, it is a pride to see how the fight is alive," explained Buades. For their part, both the coordinator of Joves per la Llengua and the spokesperson for Correllengua explained that they experienced the event "with great emotion". "Seeing how people get involved in the moment and the context we are living in encourages us to keep the fight alive and to seek new projects," they emphasize.

Thus, the organization insists that the great success of this first edition of Correllengua Agermanat has been the people's. Both those who participated and, above all, all those who dedicated their time altruistically to the cause and showed, once again, that "they will not let anyone kill Catalan, they will not kill it".

Recover the Congress of Catalan Culture

It hadn't even been a week since the Correllengua Agermanat 2026 had finished, and the organizers had already called the next meeting to chart the future of this fight for Catalan. In June, specifically on the 28th and 29th, organizations from all Catalan-speaking territories will meet in Mallorca to plan lines of action. "We don't know if we'll do more Correllengua, which I suppose we will, but the success of this edition has given us the strength to work together and defend the language at a time of continuous attacks," explains Buades.

They are now studying the possibility of recovering the Congress of Catalan Culture, which was held for the first time in 1975 and only took place until 1977. "It is clear that we will have to adapt it, both to current society and to the challenges and threats that the Catalan language currently faces, but it is a realistic project and one that we plan to move forward with," explained Buades. This is one of the projects that has been attempted to be recovered the most times, so far without success, but the great success of Correllengua Agermanat 2026 opens the doors to reviving an event dreamed of by many.

In this regard, Muñoz remarked: "We have to see what the success of Correllengua Agermanat 2026 translates into, but it is clear that our objective is to improve the health and promotion of the Catalan language jointly". "Institutions and authorities must take into account all the people who have taken to the streets to claim Catalan, they cannot continue to attack it," he stated.