New instance of linguistic discrimination at a takeaway restaurant in Palma: "If you don't speak to me in Spanish, I don't understand you"

PalmAnother instance of linguistic discrimination has occurred in Mallorca, this time at a prepared food establishment in the Vileta neighborhood of Palma. According to the complainant, the incident took place on Wednesday at a place that sells rotisserie chicken and bread rolls, where the victim went to eat half a chicken.

However, the person in charge of the establishment told her that if she didn't speak in Spanish, he wouldn't understand her. The woman then repeated herself more slowly and pointed to the sign advertising the takeaway chicken. When the person who was supposed to help her continued to refuse, the complainant asked if there was anyone else in the establishment who could assist her. "This isn't a Mallorcan business," the manager replied. However, the victim pointed out that his business was in Mallorca, where Catalan speakers have the right to express themselves in their language.

As a result, the customer who was not served requested a complaint form from the establishment and reported the incident to the Consumer Protection Agency. She also explained on her social media profile that upon leaving the establishment, two people on a motorcycle confronted her and verbally assaulted her, shouting, "Don't mess with me, you idiot!" The woman accompanying her reportedly told her that she understood Catalan and could speak it, but refused to speak to her. "I wanted to go back inside to request a second complaint form, this time to report the verbal abuse, but they refused," the victim lamented. "If the authorities don't put a stop to this discrimination, the situation could worsen. Today it was very unpleasant insults and intimidation, and tomorrow it could be physical assault," she added. "We don't discriminate against anyone based on language or origin."

The owner of the establishment issued a statement on Thursday via a video posted on the business's social media channels to deny that anyone had been discriminated against for speaking Catalan. Although the businesswoman acknowledged that a tense situation occurred on Wednesday, resulting in a customer filing a complaint, she denied the allegations and asserted that her establishment does not discriminate against anyone for this reason. The owner recorded the video in Spanish, except for the final part, which she added: "We also want to thank all our customers who continue to trust us—and there are so many of you!"