The Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana has demanded that Barcelona City Council withdraw a new writing residency for Latin American authors, funded with 80,000 euros. They criticize the initiative for prioritizing Spanish in a context of declining Catalan usage in the city. The culture councilor defends the measure as a complement to existing programs in Catalan.
Barcelona City Council announced at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) an international residency for Latin American writers aimed at narrating the city. The initiative, driven in collaboration with the Barcelona Libraries Consortium and Casa Amèrica Catalunya, has an annual budget of 80,000 euros.
The Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana reacted swiftly with a statement, urging Mayor Jaume Collboni to withdraw the grant and redirect all funds to Catalan-language creation. They describe it as a unilateral measure, not consulted with sector entities, and likely targeted at Spanish, exacerbating the marginalization of Catalan and Latin American indigenous languages. “Any call that disregards [...] Catalan will only insist on the marginalization processes these languages suffer,” the text states.
Politicians like Jordi Martí Galbis from Junts per Catalunya have criticized the prioritization, stating: “In the current linguistic emergency, the Council's aids must prioritize Catalan-language writers.” Elisenda Alamany from ERC added: “No writer can represent Barcelona's identity and soul with a three-month Erasmus funded by the City Council.”
Xavier Marcé, culture councilor, countered that the grant fits within an ecosystem including the Montserrat Roig grants, with a cumulative investment of 1.5 million euros, mostly for Catalan (6,000 euros per award, 27 planned). Of the budget, 20,000 euros go to author fees, 43,000 to editorial production (including Catalan translation), and 16,000 to expenses. Marcé noted that 74% of FIL-invited authors originally write in Catalan.
Salvador Illa, Generalitat president, voiced respect for the initiative: “Opening up is always good.” This comes as recent data show less than 25% of Barcelona's population speaks Catalan regularly.