Barcelona City Council has archived a complaint filed by artist Roc Blackblock after a Guàrdia Urbana officer initially refused to speak Catalan while issuing a fine for a mural. Blackblock asked to be addressed in Catalan, but the officer said Castilian Spanish is also official in Catalonia. The officer later switched to Catalan to ask for identification and issue the fine.
Blackblock then contacted Plataforma per la Llengua, which advised him on how to submit a complaint to the council. The organisation said the city informed it on 11 May that the case had been archived. According to Plataforma per la Llengua, the council argued there had been no “effective or definitive” breach of linguistic rights because the officer corrected the situation and continued the exchange in Catalan.
Plataforma per la Llengua has challenged that reasoning and filed an appeal. It described the council’s criterion as “juridically erroneous and deeply worrying”, and asked for the archive decision to be revoked and for disciplinary proceedings to be opened against the officer. The group said the case risks downplaying situations of linguistic discrimination, even when service is eventually provided in Catalan.
The organisation also said a breach of linguistic rights occurs as soon as a citizen asks to be served in an official language and the administration questions that request or pressures the person to justify it. In this case, it said, the officer initially asked Blackblock which law required him to speak Catalan. Plataforma per la Llengua added that the law does not require a refusal to be definitive, repeated or persistent for a violation to occur.
The encounter took place during a police identification, which the organisation described as a sensitive setting because of the power imbalance between officers and citizens. It argued that authority figures have a stronger duty to respect linguistic rights in that context. The group also said the officer may have committed several infractions under local police law, including possible discrimination based on language, lack of respect, or serious disregard for a citizen, as well as a serious breach of functional duties.
For more Catalonia-wide reporting on public institutions and language rights, see our news coverage. You can also read the latest updates from Plataforma per la Llengua and the Barcelona City Council.
