Language, Identity, and Power: The Political Trajectory of Catalan in Contemporary Spain

By Jennifer Brown Moreno

Throughout history, the Catalan language, tightly tied to Catalan national identity and independence movement, has faced numerous challenges regarding recognition and legitimacy. In the following lines, the main turning points in the government’s conception of the language since the 20th century will be explored from the official governmental side, along with the motives behind these decisions. 

Catalan independence supporters waving estelades (independence flags). Credits to Okdiario.

Introduction

The Kingdom of Spain is a deeply regionalized nation-state, where every autonomous region is granted a high level of self-direction. At the same time, it is a multinational state that gathers a considerable number of different nations that have coexisted for centuries. Nonetheless, in recent years a palpable tension among them has arisen, and politics has played a significant role in both increasing the gap and consolidating good-standing relations back harmoniously. The most noted cases are those of the Basque Country and Catalonia, the two strongest independent movements, rooted in ancient historical, cultural and linguistic traditions. The Basque movement has had a more impactful effect internally, with the proliferation of a terrorist group (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna – E.T.A.) from 1968 to 2011 in support of a political party’s ideas for independence. On the other hand, since the birth of Catalan national consciousness in the 19th century through linguistic, cultural and political promotion, Catalanism has situated the Catalan language as a distinguishing feature from the Spanish nation, drawing a differentiating cultural line.  This process, known as Renaixença, occurred during the rise of nationalism in Europe. Catalonia has managed to extend its cause beyond borders, reaching international audiences through a deliberate internationalization strategy in search of external support and assistance, with diplomatic pressure as one of their tactics to promote Catalan’s self-determination. 

Historical evolution of Catalan’s conception

Nowadays, the Catalan nationalist movement advocates for a transitional period that grants the Autonomous Community of Catalonia greater fiscal control, expanded political powers, and formal recognition as a distinct nation from Spain. Supporters of this approach argue that such enhanced autonomy – beyond the current status of semi-self-governing authority – would pave the path to full independence by strengthening Catalonia’s institutional capacity and legitimizing its claim to statehood. 

Catalanist proponents’ main argument for independence is the historical persecution the Catalan culture has suffered. Under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975), all languages other than Spanish were prohibited, and Catalan in particular was significantly persecuted. Catalonia was among the last regions to fall under the national forces’ control during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and hosted key spots for the opposing republican forces – a coalition composed of communists, anarchists, socialists, and republicans, among others. This fact exacerbated the violent retaliation the authoritarian regime inflicted upon the Catalan region. This was especially striking after the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), a short period that allowed a relative openness to Catalonia’s autonomy and language freedom through cultural institutions such as Associació Protectora de l’Ensenyança Catalana (APEC), Nostra Parla, and Palestra, following another repressive dictatorship ruled by Franco’s predecessor Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1931). Franco’s National-Catholic ideas of what the Spanish nation was – patriotic, one united nation, religiously devoted, traditional – completely excluded other identities, along with their languages and cultures. Franco drew from Primo de Rivera’s conservative and traditional ideology and banned the Catalan language and culture in education and journalism. One of Franco’s most emblematic mottos: “Spain: one flag, one homeland, one language,” perfectly encapsulates his vision for Spain’s multicultural and multilinguistic landscape. 

Nevertheless, Franco’s repressive policies did not achieve their goal of erasing the Catalan language. In fact, Catalan survived in clandestinity. As a consequence of such censorship and repression, the so-called “vernacular languages” by the regime (any language other than Spanish) became symbols of resistance, relegated to intimate spaces and informal contexts. In literary terms, Catalan publications were exhaustively persecuted, both those works originally written in Catalan and translations into the language. Libraries were purged of all books included in the regime’s forbidden books list, one that ranged from anti-fascist titles to those written in “peripherical languages” (another term for vernacular languages). When World War II ended with the defeat of the Axis powers, and since Spain had sided with the fascist countries despite its official neutrality, Francoist policies began to shift towards less harsh restrictions regarding the public use of Catalan. Franco sought to portray a Spain aligned with more inclusive values in line with the Marshall Plan’s criteria - Spain had been excluded from receiving foreign aid due to diplomatic, anti-cooperation, and anti-democratic reasons -  because, after a period of failed autarchy, he was hoping to become a recipient of these funds. From 1948 onwards, translations were allowed under very restrictive criteria, including requirements of vital literary transcendence, limited copies, and exorbitant payments. This opened the door to translated classical books – like Dante’s Divine Comedy – that could be found in the Catalan literary market, but in exchange for very high prices. Some additional examples of this limited tolerance can be found as the regime advanced, but prohibition policies were not lifted until the end of the regime in 1975. 

Contradictorily, a rather curious event took place during the last 12 years of the Franco dictatorship:  a TV programming was broadcast in Catalan on the TVE Catalunya channel although censorship and repressive measures were still in force. These programs featured diverse productions ranging from theatre performances (Teatro Catalán) to daily news programs (Mare Nostrum). During the latter part of the Francoist regime, usually referred to as the “openness era” (1951-1975), Franco sought to cleanse the damaged and negative image that Spain had projected for decades by showcasing a superficially inclusive policy. Catalonia was the symbol of modernity and progress due to its advanced industrialization, so it was conveniently selected to reflect a renewed side away from the isolationism and failed autarchy period. Even though this may appear to represent an advance for recognition of Catalanism, it was merely part of a propaganda campaign promoted by the government. In practice, it was carried out in a very discreet way: the programs were broadcast during low-viewership time slots, and no advertisements were prepared to publicize them. The importance of these TV shows lies in the fact that they constituted the only exception to the Spanish-only rule under Francoism, revealing how the Catalan language was politicized as a symbol of modernity externally while continuing to be formally prohibited internally. 

Wall painting: “if you are Spanish, speak Spanish.” Credits to Nueva Tribuna.

After Franco’s death in 1975, a Constitutional Assembly drafted Spain’s current Constitution of 1978, whose Article 3 states that Spanish is the official language of the State while acknowledging Spain’s linguistic richness as an object of respect and protection. This vision clashes with the previous Francoist policies, which rejected any sort of public display  in any language other than Spanish. Additionally, Article 3 promotes language diversity by recognizing the co-official status of other languages within their autonomous community, namely, Galician in Galicia; Basque or Euskera in the Basque Country and Navarre; and Catalan in Balearic Islands, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community. There are more minority languages in Spain – e.g. Aragonese or Asturian – but Galician, Basque, and Catalan  are the most widely spoken and enjoy political representation. This means that each autonomous community has the authority to incorporate their co-official languages according to their own will. For Catalonia, Catalan serves as the vehicular language in the educational system, and is the preferred language in administrative,political affairs, and media contexts, as established in their Autonomy Statute – a document for each autonomous community that details all their responsibilities, institutional divisions, and administrative procedures. 

Despite gaining official recognition, the limited co-official status of these languages resulted in growing tensions, as the three major regions continue to push for broader recognition and inclusion of their languages. In the case of Catalonia, a more consolidated political consciousness emerged thanks to Jordi Pujol, the president of the Generalitat – Catalonia’s self-governing institution – who promoted a protectionist policy to strengthen Catalan culture and language and to encourage social use during his mandate (1980-2003). Motivated by his nationalist ambitions, Pujol sought to foster a strong sense of Catalan nationhood, using language as one of his principal tools through normalization policies (Llei de Normalització Lingüística, 1983) and immersive school programs for non-Catalan speakers, which also responded to growing migration flows towards the economically prosperous region. Because these were the first years of Spain’s new democratic government, and given the constitutional framework established in 1978, the central government did not actively intervene, effectively allowing the autonomous communities to manage linguistic and cultural affairs on their own. These policies not only revitalized the Catalan language after decades of repression but also turned it into a political instrument for shaping identity and asserting autonomy. The growing association between language and nationhood would later fuel the tensions that defined the independence movement of the 2010s. 

Banner in a public school: “School in Catalan now and always!” Credits to ABC. 

In line with Pujol’s ideas, his political successors continued his legacy by initiating the so-called procés català (2012-2020), an ambitious set of self-determination policies aimed at achieving an independent state that culminated with the controversial illegal referendum – it was anti-Constitutional and later suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain – organized by former President Carles Puigdemont. Before the referendum, the ex-President of the Generalitat, Artur Mas i Gavarró, and his political opponent, Oriol Junqueras, formed a coalition to advance the Catalan cause, which marked the beginning of the procès. Interestingly, a shared cause was strong enough to result in an alliance between two political adversaries and, consequently, the Catalan language has enjoyed for approximately three decades a favorable position in terms of jurisdictional protection and social acceptance. 

Nowadays, the Catalan independence movement and political attempts to consolidate Catalan culture and language result in many controversies and tensions with the central government, but none of the regulatory measures adopted have been revoked. As an attempt to address these complaints, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez renewed a proposal in July 2025 to the Council of the European Union requesting that Galician, Basque, and Catalan obtain official status on the EU-level.  This issue has been recurrent throughout recent history, and last time occurred in April-May 2025. This petition requires unanimous support in order to be adopted, but it faced opposition from 7 out of 27 member states, preventing its adoption. The denial came under the pretext that such acceptance could set a precedent and create tensions in unrestful multilingual or regionally divided states across the EU that could start pushing for their own recognition. Moreover, the Council maintained that the proposal conflicted with the EU’s existing language policy framework, which only grants official status to languages that are official at the national level within a member state. Since Catalan, Basque, and Galician are only co-official languages within certain autonomous communities, they do not meet this criterion. Funding was another concern, although the Spanish government offered to cover all expenses related to the languages’ implementation. Madrid has attributed the rejection to political motives and frequently refers to the Irish case, noting that Irish was recognized as an official EU language only in 2007, despite having been Ireland’s national language since 1937 and a treaty language since 1973. EU representatives countered that Ireland’s situation was fundamentally different, as Irish had long enjoyed official national status and underwent a gradual integration process completed in 2022. The underlying reasons behind Sánchez’s insistence are rooted in the composition of his governing coalition, which relies on the support of several left-wing separatist parties. This means that, although his intentions might be sincere, his insistence is primarily driven by his political promises, instrumentalizing a very sensitive issue for a considerable percentage of the Spanish population in pursuit of his political ambitions and pro-independence concessions. 

Conclusion

Finding its roots in Renaixença, Catalanism has gained a strong presence in both the Spanish and the global arena. The Catalan language – one of its fundamental pillars – has been instrumentalized by changes in its perception since the beginning of the early 20th century. Its utility has shifted from being a cultural representation of identity through literature, cinema, and exchange of ideas, to a politicized tool to achieve political goals. From a separating symbol to a modern one under Franco’s dictatorship, or from the root of a nationalist movement to a means to form coalitions and stay in power under Sánchez’s presidency, the Catalan language has suffered from enormous politicization which has detached it from what Catalan symbolizes for the people and has turned it into a political instrument. In the eyes of Catalonia’s population, their language, a sign of resistance that could not be extinguished and was maintained by writing and speaking in private, has been weaponized by their political leaders.