An 'OT' contestant criticizes the Catalan language support provided in Mallorca: "If I work and don't understand you, what do we do?"

This Sunday, the live broadcast ofOperation Triumph A program broadcast daily on YouTube captured a situation of disdain for Catalan. The contestant nominated and expelled this Monday from the second gala, Iván Rojo—from Valladolid—criticized the fact that in Mallorca, service is provided in Catalan. "It's a co-official language, not an official one. It's not the first language," asserted Rojo, sitting at one of the tables in the academy's dining room with his classmates Max, who is from Catalonia, and Tinho, from Galicia.

"Co-official means it's official. And at the same level as Spanish," Max and Tinho quickly responded. But that explanation didn't satisfy Rojo, who continued the debate. "If I work and I don't understand you, what do we do?" he asked. "Surely they should hire someone who speaks Catalan first, rather than someone who doesn't, for example," Max replies, while Rojo makes a disagreement gesture with his mouth and snorts.

Max insisted. "At a hotel reception, they'll hire someone who speaks four languages rather than three. It's the same thing. In a customer-facing position in the main square of a town in Mallorca, I understand why they'd hire someone who speaks both Mallorcan and Spanish instead of just Spanish," he emphasized. But Rojo believes that at a hotel reception, they'll hire someone who knows how to speak multiple languages because they'll have to deal with foreigners who won't know how to speak either Catalan or Spanish. "But this woman knows how to speak Spanish perfectly," Rojo replied, referring to a case that happened to him while working on the island.

"But she has the right to speak Mallorcan," Max emphasized. "I'd be happy not to be served," Rojo declared. "You're the one who went to her community to look for work; the normal thing is for you to adapt to her culture," the Catalan said. At one point, Tinho empathized with Rojo and told him he understood that since he hadn't been working on the island for a long time, he'd struggle to understand the local language. "If you say it respectfully, 98% of people will understand," Max emphasized. But the expelled employee claimed he hadn't been there for long. "They hired me because of my English and Spanish," Rojo concluded.

This isn't the first time Rojo has sparked controversy by attacking Catalan. About two weeks ago, Rojo asked Max and Judit not to speak Catalan around people who don't speak the language.