The renewed Minority Monitor presents the case of Catalans

The renewed Minority Monitor (MiMo) platform has officially debuted its latest updates by presenting a comprehensive new case focused on the Catalans in Spain and their ongoing claims for linguistic equality and formal recognition. This critical issue highlights the concerted efforts of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) and its member organization, Plataforma per la Llengua, which have advanced five targeted resolutions since 2022 to address the challenges faced by the Catalan-speaking community. By spotlighting this specific case, the platform brings structured, European-level attention to the gap between the formal language rights granted at the regional level and the practical implementation of these rights within state institutions.

​Developed to make both minority rights violations and positive developments visible, MiMo is a fully digital, mobile-friendly platform that transforms local realities into actionable, European-level evidence. The platform's recent 2026 upgrade introduces interactive mapping tools, thematic categorization, and advanced filtering options that allow users to easily explore cases by country, minority group, topic, or year. This ensures that researchers, policymakers, and organizations can access structured, comparable data regarding hate speech, discrimination, language rights, and education.

​The newly published case details the complex situation of the Catalan language, which, despite having over ten million speakers and co-official status in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community, continues to face significant hurdles. Shortcomings are particularly evident within institutions under state competence, where the effective use of Catalan in the justice system, public administration, and healthcare remains incomplete. Furthermore, the successful Catalan linguistic immersion model in education has been challenged by judicial decisions mandating a minimum percentage of teaching in Castilian, prompting calls to protect the immersion system and ensure adequate language proficiency among judicial personnel and state officials. The resolutions also strongly advocate for Catalan to be recognized as an official language of the European Union, addressing the fact that it currently lacks the institutional recognition granted to several European languages with considerably fewer speakers.

​Beyond specific linguistic rights, the case delves into the broader issue of recognizing Catalan speakers as a national minority under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). Spain currently maintains that no national minorities exist on its territory, though international advisory committees emphasize that formal state recognition is not a prerequisite for applying the Convention. To ensure this critical analysis reaches a broader European audience and policymakers, the comprehensive report on the Catalans is going to be available shortly in German as well. Readers, advocates, and researchers are encouraged to explore the complete details of the case, utilize the new interactive mapping features, and examine other reported incidents from across Europe by visiting the official website at minoritymonitor.eu. 

(AI illustration)