The home language

All the linguistic aggression that occurs anywhere in the Catalan-speaking territories demonstrates once again how little power they want us to have in our own country. The situation always plays out in the same way: a Spanish speaker, faced with the normality of a Catalan speaker wanting to communicate in Catalan—and all this in Catalan-speaking territories—refuses to understand anything, shuts down completely, and says they have no obligation to learn Catalan, even if they want to run a business or practice medicine.

Because of this kind of people, the territories where Catalan speakers live are part of Spain, and therefore we must speak in Castilian Spanish: their right to be monolingual in Castilian Spanish should supersede our right to speak Catalan in our country. The excuse always involves claiming that we are 'in Spain,' when it's even more true that we are in Mallorca, Catalonia, Valencia, etc. Their linguistic arrogance, by the way, is always defused at the borders of France or Portugal, making it clear that there they do understand that the country's own language should be spoken. With this, they imply that the solution lies in borders, although they also show little understanding later on towards the separatists and their demands. Furthermore, the education system forces the use of Castilian Spanish, so that all Catalan speakers must know it, at least if we want to obtain basic qualifications. But this knowledge is used against us: we are told that, since we know Spanish, they don't need to learn Catalan – even though they have been here for decades – because what matters is understanding each other (understanding each other in Spanish, always).

And so, very bizarre situations arise: monolingual Spanish speakers who despise those who defend their language, Catalan, calling them provincial and narrow-minded, even though the person defending Catalan speaks four other languages, holds six university degrees, and teaches at two foreign universities. A bunch of ignorant people lecture on coexistence, culture, and—cosmopolitanism!—to people who have no language or cultural problems whatsoever, but simply want to keep their own language confined to their own homes. Because—let's be clear—that's the underlying problem: they can't grasp that we are in our own home; they see and feel that we are in Spain—their home—and that in Spain everyone should address them in Spanish, even if it's a client offering them work and business in Catalan.

Castilian Spanish takes precedence not only over Catalan but also over the profit motive: they cling to their language despite the hunger that forced them to flee those corners of the world where, yes, they could speak Castilian Spanish, but couldn't live with dignity. We must pay for their failure as dignified nations with our language. And all of this stems from a colonial conception of the Catalan Countries: they are part of Spain, and therefore they have every right to address anyone in Castilian Spanish, and your rights don't matter or are secondary. They also claim, now, that they are the 'majority,' a criterion they never used when we were the majority, unlike now, when we are a national minority, yes, but in our own country. Right?