Read in Catalan

It all started as a simple request by Catalans born outside Catalonia, people from Latin America, northern Europe, Africa and elsewhere, and speaking from their own experience. On social media, they asked other locals to use the Catalan language when addressing them - instead of assuming, as many do, that since they "look foreign", they should be spoken to in Castilian as they won't understand Catalan.

But this week, the "Don't change languages for me" (No em canviïs la llengua) campaign, aimed partly at breaking this self-fulfilling linguistic prophecy, was used by politicians and media as the excuse for a false controversy. By no means the first time in the Spanish state that a language issue has been artificially turned into a political flare-up by people far removed from it.

The event that provoked the over-reaction was a speech in Catalonia's Parliament given by Anna Erra, MP and mayor of the city of Vic. She explained the logic of the "Don't change languages for me" initiative, calling on Catalans not to assume from someone's appearance that they wouldn't speak Catalan. It led to a knee-jerk reaction from parts of the Spanish press. Not to mention some theatrics from Partido Popular politician Alejandro Fernández seated behind Erra in parliament.

Some Spanish media even portrayed Erra's words falsely as suggesting an attempt to physically distinguish between Catalans and people from the rest of the Iberian peninsula.

1: The speech

Well, here's the full translation of what she said in Parliament:

"In Catalonia, historically, a land of immigration and of welcome to outsiders, the Catalan language has always incorporated new speakers. Given the migrants from all over the world that come to Catalonia, the Catalan language is an important element of integration and we must ensure that people have access to learn it and use it as an element of social cohesion and as a generator of opportunities. So far, so good. But what's happening? Well, one of the habits, a very bad habit of many Catalan speakers is to change languages, that is, switch directly to Castilian when they perceive that the person they are addressing is foreign or simply doesn't speak Catalan." 

"There is a confusion among Catalan speakers, which hurts our language: they think that addressing someone in Castilian is an act of respect, but it's not like that. Often when we change language we prevent people who want to learn it from doing so. Catalan is a welcoming language, that brings us together, that gives you opportunities in the country where you live. However, if it fails to seduce new speakers and become the usual language among them, it will be increasingly difficult for Catalan to grow. We need to raise awareness among autochthonous Catalans that those born abroad want and need to learn Catalan. And to end the habit widespread in certain areas of the country to always speak Castilian with anyone who due to their appearance or their name does not seem Catalan." 

"Last September the initiative "Don't change languages for me" was presented. A campaign driven by newcomers themselves who support the language that unites us, that makes us equal, that unites us: the Catalan language. In addition to asking for favourable conditions to facilitate access to Catalan, the initiative aims to raise awareness among Catalan speakers so that they do not switch languages when they believe, due to accents or physical traits, that their interlocutor is not born in Catalonia."

As Anna Erra reiterated in a tweet, the Catalan language is "a tool for integration, access to culture and social harmony and cohesion."

2: The media

The speech led to all kinds of apocalyptic responses in the Spanish media. What the host of La Sexta network's popular programme Al rojo vivo, Antonio Ferreras, pulled from the mayor of Vic's discourse was that it contained a reference to the "appearance" of Catalans, using words that he described as "a mixture of delirium, outrageousness and xenophobia".

Several other Spanish media published similar tweets. El Mundo, for example, transforms Erra's description of the "Don't change languages for me" campaign, turning it around dramatically so that it sounds like a party policy with racist overtones: "JxCat asks 'autochthonous Catalans' not to speak Castilian to people who 'don't seem Catalan'."

Libertad Digital also takes the most sensitive phrases and uses them out of context: "'physical appearance' different from the 'autochthonous Catalans'".

ABC and others, likewise: people whose "physical appearance" means they don't appear Catalan. 

Many politicians jumped into the fray, including Catalunya en Comú's leader Jéssica Albiach, who also made a pejorative interpretation of what Erra was talking about, and suggested she should keep her mouth shut: "Opening the debate on who seems Catalan or not is to ignore that Catalonia is diverse and mixed. It is a racist discourse from which everyone should separate themselves."

3: "I've been misunderstood"

The controversy grew so great that the mayor of Vic returned to social media to regret that she had been misunderstood and to apologize to anyone who had been upset by it. "As mayor of Vic, I have always worked and will work for integration and social cohesion."

Former CUP deputy Antonio Baños came out in defence of the view expressed by the mayor of Vic. The "everyday racist microviolence" involved in these instances, he said, was committed by the person who "changes languages" based on their own prejudices: "Changing languages with people who [based on race] you prejudge as not knowing the language is a class privilege inherent in white Euro-centrism. It is an act of everyday racist microviolence and is very typical of crusty old dickheads."

Catalan TV presenter Òscar Andreu expressed a similar opinion:

"Catalan speakers who don't address others in Catalan in the first exchanges send three messages to our interlocutor:
1/ My language is not even useful for starting a conversation (self-hatred)
2/ You don't look like you're from here (racism)
3/ I don't see you as capable of speaking Catalan (intellectual snobbery)"— Òscar Andreu

Former Badalona city councillor Jose Téllez also spoke, quoting his personal experience. "Well, to me it seems supremacist that people hear my [outsider] accent and learn that my name is "Jose" [as against the Catalan-language form Josep] and change from Catalan to Castilian. But you have your views."

US-born data analyst and writer Joe Brew also confirmed what Anna Erra denounced. Identifying himself as a guiri - the sometimes-pejorative term for a usually-white tourist or immigrant - he said the controversy was "absurd" and gave the following summary of his experience: "I am a guiri and I look like one. Many autochtonous people (those born in Catalonia) change to Castilian when they see my physical appearance. This happens to many foreigners. It hinders the learning of Catalan and social integration, obviously. To recognize this is not racist", he affirmed.

...and 4: The original campaign 

Here are some of the many videos published on social media of Catalans born elsewhere who ask those speaking to them to use Catalan if they can, part of the "Don't change languages for me" campaign.

Peruvian-born Lilian says: “I've lived in Catalonia for 30 years. I learned Catalan, I got my Level C, but my surprise was when people switched languages and spoke to me in Castilian. And it happened a lot, you could lose heart. But I decided that I wanted to understand people, take part in this city and so I wasn’t going to change languages...”

Ferdinand, born in Senegal: "I've been in Catalonia for a year and six months and what I want most is to practice [the language], to feel Catalan. But this is a bit difficult, because when I go out, I can’t practice because people speak to me in Castilian."

Carlos, an historian: “I was born in El Salvador, I'm a Catalan speaker... we live in Barcelona, and have been in this land for 9 years, and I say, don’t switch languages for me!”

Christiane, born in Germany: "...When you tell me about your grandfather who went to Cuba, or the children’s song “El Gall i la Gallina” or your granddaughter who made the tió log shit, you are telling me much more than an anecdote, you are showing me what you are like, without filters... that’s worth conserving.”

Babeli, born in Syria: "...In my home in central Catalonia, people who know me speak to me in Catalan. When I leave my area, due to my accent, people change from Catalan to Castilian, and that’s very rude. ...If you want to support your language, and since people want to learn it, help us!"