Creixell mayor Montserrat Muñoz Madueño spoke exclusively in Spanish during a TV3 report on torrential rain on the Costa Daurada on Saturday, according to Racó Català. For Creixell residents watching the Catalan public broadcaster, the interview was the mayor’s public message during severe-weather coverage.

The broadcast prompted criticism on social media, where commentators questioned the use of Spanish alone by the mayor of the Tarragonès municipality when addressing local residents.

“It is not Murcia or La Rioja. It is Creixell, in Tarragonès, and its mayor speaks only in Spanish on TV3 to address her residents,” media journalist Marc Larroya wrote in a post dated 22 August 2026.

Catalan language policy for public institutions

Law 1/1998 on language policy describes Catalan as Catalonia’s own language. Its preamble also presents the language as a tool for communication, integration and social cohesion among residents, regardless of their geographical origin.

The law’s text recognises that Catalonia’s sociolinguistic situation is complex and refers to the coexistence of Catalan with Spanish. The report on Muñoz’s interview did not identify any specific penalty connected to her choice of language on TV3.

Government commitments on public administration use

The PSC and ERC’s 2024 pre-agreement for Salvador Illa’s investiture included a commitment to guarantee Catalan as the normal language of Catalan administrations and institutions in their internal work, dealings with one another and communications with people and organisations resident in the Catalan-speaking area.

  • The agreement proposed a Pacte Nacional per a la Llengua, or National Pact for the Language, with €200 million in its first year.
  • It also proposed a new Ministry of Language Policy with a cross-department action plan.
  • The agreement stated that citizens’ right to choose a language in their dealings with public administrations must not be harmed.

Francesc Xavier Vila became the first minister responsible for the new language-policy portfolio in August 2024. He said one of his first measures would be to complete the Pacte Nacional per a la Llengua and incorporate it into the Generalitat’s government programme.

Reported by racocatala.cat, europapress.es, vilaweb.cat, ca.wikisource.org, Berto Sagrera, Jou i Mirabent, Lluís, CatalunyaPress.es, Racó Català.