Warnings about the surge in linguistic attacks in the Islands: "There have been five cases of discrimination in two months"

PalmPlataforma per la Lengua has reported up to five known cases of linguistic discrimination in the Balearic Islands between December 2015 and February of this year, specifically for speaking Catalan in commercial establishments and customer service areas. The organization is calling on the government to enact a specific law guaranteeing consumers' right to be served in their own language and establishing penalties for violations.

According to the organization, recent incidents have occurred at Bar del Pez in Palma, where a waiter allegedly expelled a group of friends for speaking Catalan; at the IKEA in Mahón, where a customer had to leave after not being served in Catalan; and at the Palma Blood Bank, where a doctor initially refused to interview a donor because of the language used—a case the center rectified and for which it apologized. Incidents have also been reported at MediaMarkt Palma, where a customer was allegedly denied service and had their purchased items thrown away, and at the Pokatas restaurant in Palma, where a customer claims she was not served and was subsequently insulted in the street. Plataforma per la Llengua (Platform for the Language) states that throughout 2025 it received 89 language-related complaints from users in the Balearic Islands, most of them related to violations of the rights of Catalan speakers in shops and public spaces. The organization believes these cases demonstrate that consumers "are without a law" to develop and enforce the rights recognized by current legislation, such as the 1986 Law on Linguistic Normalization, which establishes that no one can be discriminated against on the basis of the official language they use.

In this regard, they point out that the draft bill on consumer protection, which included a specific chapter on linguistic rights, was shelved in 2023, and that parliamentary debate has not resumed since then. The organization argues that regulating commercial activity to guarantee linguistic rights is constitutional and cites Constitutional Court jurisprudence that supports the authority of the autonomous communities to establish linguistic requirements in labeling and consumer information. The Platform for the Language also recalled that the 2001 Trade Law—later repealed—explicitly recognized the right of consumers to be served in either of the two official languages ​​of the Balearic Islands and to no longer suffer discrimination on this basis. "We had guaranteed rights, and we want to recover them," they state. The organization has called for a "firm commitment" from the President of the Government, Margalida Prohens, to promote legislation that protects citizens from linguistic discrimination. It also expressed concern about the statements made by the PP spokesperson in the Catalan Parliament, Sebastià Sagreras, who described the cases as "isolated" and questioned whether they reflect a general problem. Finally, Plataforma per la Llengua reminds the public that it offers the Linguistic Rights Defense Service, staffed by lawyers and specialists who advise on how to file complaints and petitions with companies and government agencies, with the aim of promoting and protecting the use of Catalan, including in the consumer sphere.