Healthcare Language Rights Violations Rise in 2025
The Catalan Health Service saw a significant number of reported linguistic rights violations in 2025, with 69 cases of discrimination for speaking Catalan in the public healthcare system, according to a report published this week by Plataforma per la Llengua. Of these, 56 occurred in Catalonia, eight in the Valencian Country, and four in the Balearic Islands. These incidents took place across primary care centres (CAPs), hospitals, and emergency services, and include refusals to provide care unless patients spoke Spanish, staff demanding language changes, and derogatory remarks such as 'we are in Spain' and 'I speak what I want.' The NGO’s data shows that healthcare accounted for 92% of all public-sector linguistic discrimination complaints it received.
Patients Forced to Switch Languages Amid Systemic Failures
Examples cited include a 92-year-old woman at Blanes Hospital whose son had to act as an interpreter because the doctor did not understand Catalan, and a 100-year-old patient at Hospital del Sagrat Cor in Barcelona who was told to 'speak in Spanish' by a doctor with an Argentinian accent. In another case, a patient at Hospital de Martorell had a doctor hang up after requesting Catalan during a phone consultation. At CAP Poblenou in Barcelona, a physiotherapist told a patient that management had instructed all sessions to be conducted in Spanish. Meanwhile, a monitoring robot at Hospital de Palamós only operated in Spanish, leaving Catalan-speaking patients unable to interact with the system.
The Department of Health is competing to be the worst department in the Government regarding Catalan.
, Òscar Escuder, president of Plataforma per la Llengua, in a recent interview with El Món
Minimal Sanctions Despite Hundreds of Complaints
While the Department of Health received 360 complaints about linguistic rights violations in 2025, the Generalitat initiated only three sanctioning procedures, just 0.83% of cases. Health Minister Olga Pané previously downplayed the issue, but advocates argue the reported cases represent only the 'tip of the iceberg.' Some cases involved vulnerable patients, including a two-year-old child at Vall d'Hebron Hospital who became distressed when nurses refused to speak Catalan, and a dementia patient assessed using a Spanish-only test despite speaking only Catalan. At Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Martorell, a terminally ill man passed away without ever being attended by a Catalan-speaking doctor.
What This Means for You
Catalan is an official language in Catalonia and patients have the right to be served in it under regional law. If you experience language discrimination in public healthcare, you can file a complaint via the CatSalut website or through Plataforma per la Llengua’s reporting portal.
Reported by elmon.cat.
