"English and Mandarin. In Europe, Spanish is an official language of Spain, the country after which it is named and from which it originated. It is widely spoken in Gibraltar, and also commonly spoken in Andorra, although Catalan is the official language there. Spanish is also spoken by small communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany. Spanish is an official language of the European Union. In Switzerland, which had a massive influx of Spanish migrants in the 20th century, Spanish is the native language of 2.2% of the population. Most Spanish speakers are"
"such as mechanics, carpenters, or welders, and in construction. A small proportion are engaged in the liberal professions, mainly medicine, law, and engineering. About four-tenths also run their own businesses. Grocery stores, butchers' shops, clothing stores, mobile phone shops, and discount shops are some of the more common types of businesses. The first halal butcher's shop in Barcelona was opened in 1983 by a Pakistani businessman. About half remit money to their families in Pakistan. Punjabi is the most common first language among Pakistanis in Spain, reported by 63.6% of one survey group in Barcelona. The national language Urdu is"
"where Occitan (spoken mainly in France and some Italian valleys) received full official status. However, on 9 August 2006, when the new Statute came into force, Aranese became official throughout Catalonia. According to the government of Catalonia, Spanish, locally known as Castilian, is currently the most spoken language in Catalonia (45.9% daily users of Spanish vs. 35.6% daily users of Catalan vs. 11% daily users of both Spanish and Catalan) and especially in the Barcelona metropolitan area, as well as native language and usual language of many Catalan citizens. This language is widely prevalent in the press, cinema and in"
"Culture of Barcelona Barcelona's culture stems from the city's 2000 years of history. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official languages and widely spoken. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture (very much repressed during the dictatorship) has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works. Barcelona houses a great number of museums, which cover different areas and eras. The City History Museum, situated in a medieval building that used"
"two official languages are Spanish and Catalan. The regional and local governments almost exclusively use Catalan and public signs are usually written in this language. Spanish is the language of business and the most commonly spoken language among residents and visitors. Most young people have some knowledge of English. People working in the tourism industry may also speak other languages (French, Dutch, Russian, etc.). There is a Roman Catholic church, built in 1956-57. Masses are offered in Spanish and Catalan. Comarruga Coma-ruga is a seaside resort in the municipality of El Vendrell, in the province of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). It"
"across the curriculum, though this is limited to a maximum of 30% of the school day. No public school or ""escola concertada"" in Barcelona may offer 50% or full immersion programmes in a foreign language, nor does any public school or ""escola concertada"" offer International Baccalaureate programmes. Barcelona's cultural roots go back 2000 years. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan language (very much repressed during the dictatorship of Franco) has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works. Barcelona is designated as a world-class city by the Globalization and World"
"daily life. Spanish is the language that Catalan citizens can read and write the most, due to the fact that until the 1980s it was the only language used in school and in all official communications. The Spanish language developed from Vulgar Latin in the North of the Iberian Peninsula, expanding quickly to the South. It has lexical influences from Arabic and possible substrate influences from Basque and (to a lesser extent) Celtiberian. It has been the only official language in Spain for most periods since the eighteenth century. According to the official government of Catalonia, Catalan is the second"
"most spoken language of the region, after Spanish (over 35% of Catalans use exclusively Catalan as their first language, while 11% of Catalans use equally both Catalan and Spanish). It is the most spoken language in many comarques of Catalonia, with the exception of the Barcelona metropolitan area (Barcelonès plus surrounding comarques) and Camp de Tarragona. Catalan is a compulsory subject in schools and enjoys equals rights with Spanish throughout Catalonia. Since the death of Franco and the approval of a new democratic Constitution in Spain, Catalan has experienced a new revival in its usage, first, due to the liberalisation"
"also widely spoken, but very few have it as their first language. In the same survey, 95.4% stated that they could speak at least some Spanish, and 54.6% could also speak English; 12.9% also claimed some knowledge of Catalan, the language spoken in Barcelona where much of the Pakistani population in Spain lives. Islam is by far the most common religion among Pakistanis in Spain, and serves as an important marker of community belonging. In Solé Aubia and Rodríguez Roca's 2005 study, every single one of their 280 interviewees stated that he or she was a Muslim; of them, 82.5%"
"is understood by 95% of the population, while 72.3% can speak it, 79% can read it, and 53% can write it, thanks to the language immersion educational system. In 1900, Barcelona had a population of 533,000 people, which grew steadily but slowly until 1950, when it started absorbing a high number of people from other less-industrialized parts of Spain. Barcelona's population peaked in 1979 with 1,906,998 people, and fell throughout the 1980s and 1990s as more people sought a higher quality of life in outlying cities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. After bottoming out in 2000 with 1,496,266 people, the"
"Languages of Catalonia There are four languages with official status in Catalonia (an autonomous community of Spain): Catalan; Spanish- which is official throughout Spain; Aranese, a dialect of Occitan spoken in the Aran Valley; and Catalan Sign Language. Many other languages are spoken in Catalonia as a result of recent immigration from all over the world. Catalan has enjoyed special status since the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of 1979 which declares it to be the language ""proper to Catalonia"". Spanish had been the only official language for most of the period between the 18th century and 1975. According"
"is a significant difference between the Barcelona metropolitan area (and, to a lesser extent, the Tarragona area), where Spanish is more spoken than Catalan, and the more rural Catalonia, where Catalan clearly prevails over Spanish. Originating in the historic territory of Catalonia, Catalan has enjoyed special status since the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of 1979 which declares it to be ""Catalonia's own language"", a term which signifies a language given special legal status within a Spanish territory, or which is historically spoken within a given region. The other languages with official status are Spanish, which has official status"
"that ""all other Spanish languages""—that is, all other languages of Spain—will also be official in their respective autonomous communities in accordance to their Statutes, their organic regional legislations, and that the ""richness of the distinct linguistic modalities of Spain represents a patrimony which will be the object of special respect and protection."" The other official languages of Spain, co-official with Spanish are: As a percentage of the general population, Basque is spoken by 2%, Catalan (or Valencian) by 17%, and Galician by 7% of all Spaniards. In Catalonia, Aranese (""aranés""), a local variety of the Occitan language, has been declared"
"and Evangelicals, 0.9% Orthodox Christians and 0.6% Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same time, 16.0% of the population identify as atheists, 11.9% as agnostics, 4.8% as Muslims, 1.3% as Buddhists, and a further 2.4% as being of other religions. According to the linguistic census held by the Government of Catalonia in 2013, Spanish is the most spoken language in Catalonia (46.53% claim Spanish as ""their own language""), followed by Catalan (37.26% claim Catalan as ""their own language""). In everyday use, 11.95% of the population claim to use both languages equally, whereas 45.92% mainly use Spanish and 35.54% mainly use Catalan. There"
"not accept the use of documents written in Catalan, though it is a co-official language in Catalonia. Languages of Catalonia There are four languages with official status in Catalonia (an autonomous community of Spain): Catalan; Spanish- which is official throughout Spain; Aranese, a dialect of Occitan spoken in the Aran Valley; and Catalan Sign Language. Many other languages are spoken in Catalonia as a result of recent immigration from all over the world. Catalan has enjoyed special status since the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of 1979 which declares it to be the language ""proper to Catalonia"". Spanish had"
"As a part of the intense immigration process which Spain in general and Catalonia in particular have experienced over the last decade, there is a large number of immigrant languages spoken in various cultural communities in Catalonia, of which (Maghrebi) Arabic and Urdu are the most common if Spanish-speaking migrants are not taken into account. From all four Provinces of Catalonia, the largest number of habitual foreign language speakers are located in Girona. In Francoist Spain Catalan was, until the 1970s, excluded from the state education system and all other official and governmental use, including the prohibition of baptizing children"
"through the whole preparatory school, secondary or general school systems are also offered. The German School of Barcelona also possesses a German-oriented kindergarten, in which children participate for three years. The preschoolers are divided in different groups according to their languages, with the main language being German. This institution aids the children in a social manner, and supports and develops their creative skills. In their third year children will participate in ""preschool-lessons"". German knowledge is not required for acceptance. The school's elementary section lasts four years. German and Spanish or Catalan children are taught in the same classes and receive"
"and the Catalan public television broadcasts programs only in Catalan. Due to the intense immigration which Spain in general and Catalonia in particular experienced in the first decade of the 21st century, many foreign languages are spoken in various cultural communities in Catalonia, of which Rif-Berber, Moroccan Arabic, Romanian and Urdu are the most common ones. Recently, some of these policies have been criticised for trying to promote Catalan by imposing fines on businesses. For example, following the passage of a March 2010 law on Catalan cinema, which establishes that half of the movies shown in Catalan cinemas must be"
"countries"") or others (such as ""the linguistic domain of Catalan language"") are used instead. Catalan and its variants are spoken in: Catalan is the official language of Andorra, co-official with Spanish and Occitan in Catalonia, co-official with Spanish in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community—with the denomination of ""Valencian"" in the latter—and co-official with Italian in the city of Alghero. It is also part of the recognized minority languages of Italy along with Sardinian, also spoken in Alghero. It is not official in Aragon, Murcia or the Pyrénées-Orientales, even though on 10 December 2007 the General Council of the"
"the province of Barcelona identified as Muslims, including 217,405 immigrants and 105,293 Spanish citizens. The province of Barcelona has more than 70,000 Muslim pupils. There are 264 Muslim places of worship in Barcelona. Barcelona endorses model oratories around the city, a formula implemented by the socialist governments that the Socialists' Party of Catalonia defends. In Barcelona, there were 126 oratories in 2015 compared to 71 in 2004, showing considerable growth. Religion in Barcelona The most widely practiced religion in Barcelona is Catholicism but secularization is strong, in line with the Spanish and Western European trends. After Christianity, Islam is the"
"editions, ""Ara"" only in Catalan) while ""Sport"" and ""El Mundo Deportivo"" (both in Spanish) are the city's two major sports daily newspapers, published by the same companies. The city is also served by a number of smaller publications such as ""Ara"" and ""El Punt Avui"" (in Catalan), by nationwide newspapers with special Barcelona editions like ""El Pais"" (in Spanish, with an online version in Catalan) and ""El Mundo"" (in Spanish), and by several free newspapers like ""20 minutos"" and ""Què"" (all bilingual). Barcelona's oldest and main online newspaper ""VilaWeb"" is also the oldest one in Europe (with Catalan and English"
"twenty thousand nationals. The community consists of significantly more men than women. Many of the Pakistanis are living in Ciutat Vella. First Pakistani migrants came in the 1970s, with increasing numbers in the 1990s. Other significant migrant groups come from Asia as from China and the Philippines. There is a Japanese community clustered in Bonanova, Les Tres Torres, Pedralbes, and other northern neighbourhoods, and a Japanese international school serves that community. Most of the inhabitants state they are Roman Catholic (208 churches). In a 2011 survey conducted by InfoCatólica, 49.5% of Barcelona residents of all ages identified themselves as Catholic."
"and immigrants now make up about 10% of the population. Since 2000, Spain has absorbed more than 3 million immigrants, with thousands more arriving each year. Immigrant population now tops over 4.5 million. They come mainly from Europe, Latin America, China, the Philippines, North Africa, and West Africa. Languages spoken in Spain include Spanish (""castellano"" or ""español"") (74%), Catalan (""català"", called ""valencià"" in the Valencian Community) (17%), Galician (""galego"") (7%), and Basque (""euskara"") (2%). Other languages are Asturian (""asturianu""), Aranese Gascon (""aranés""), Aragonese (""aragonés""), and Leonese, each with their own various dialects. Spanish is the official state language, although the"
"Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: ) is a Western Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern modern Spain. It is the only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia (where the language is known as Valencian). It also has semi-official status in the Italian commune of Alghero. It is also spoken in the eastern strip of Aragon, in some villages of Region of Murcia called Carche and in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France. These territories are often called"
"co-official along with Catalan and Spanish since 2006. It is spoken only in the ""comarca"" of ""Val d'Aran"" by roughly 6,700 people. Other Romance minority languages, though not official, have special recognition, such as the Astur-Leonese group (Asturian, ""asturianu""; also called """"bable"""", in Asturias and Leonese, ""llionés"", in Castile and León) and Aragonese (""aragonés"") in Aragon. In the North African Spanish autonomous city of Melilla, Riff Berber is spoken by a significant part of the population. In the tourist areas of the Mediterranean coast and the islands, English and German are widely spoken by tourists, foreign residents, and tourism workers."
"of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of The Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, and in the city of Alghero in the Italian island of Sardinia. It is also spoken, although with no official recognition, in the autonomous communities of Aragon (in La Franja) and Murcia (in Carche) in Spain, and in the Roussillon region of southern France, which is more or less equivalent to the ""département"" of the Pyrénées-Orientales. Basque (""Euskera"" or ""Euskara"") is a non-Indo-European language. Until the 1970s it was in recession, but since the re-establishment of democracy it has been taught"
"the 'fault-lines' in contemporary Catalan politics arises from the fact that Barcelona, with its strong metropolitan economy, continues to attract migrants from all over the world. This contemporary layer of immigration is prone to speak Spanish over Catalan and adds to second and third generation Catalans whose families arrived from other parts of Spain during the 20th century in order to cover the needs of industrial workers which the Catalan economy demanded to prosper; from the latter, some have become proficient in Catalan, others have not. On the other side, Catalan remains the predominant language in middle-class and upper-class urban"
"and write oral languages. In May 2015 the Departament de Cultura (Department for Culture) created the LSC Award in order to acknowledge individuals, institutions and initiatives for their contribution to the promotion and spreading of LSC. This biennial award has the same consideration as other awards regarding spoken languages like the Pompeu Fabra Award for Catalan and the Robèrt Lafont Award for Occitan. Catalan Sign Language Catalan Sign Language (; ) is a sign language used by around 18,000 people in different regions of Spain including Barcelona and Catalonia. As of 2012, the Catalan Federation for the Deaf estimates 25,000"
"Languages of Spain The languages of Spain (), or Spanish languages (), are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. Romance languages are the most widely spoken in Spain; of which Spanish, or Castilian, is the only language which has official status for the whole country. Various other languages have co-official or recognised status in specific territories, and a number of unofficial languages and dialects are spoken in certain localities. In terms of the number of speakers and dominance, the most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish (Castilian), spoken by about 99% of Spaniards as a first"
"spoken in the densely populated regions of the Barcelona province, the eastern half of the province of Tarragona, and most of the province of Girona. Catalan has an inflectional grammar. Nouns have two genders (masculine, feminine), and two numbers (singular, plural). Pronouns additionally can have a neuter gender, and some are also inflected for case and politeness, and can be combined in very complex ways. Verbs are split in several paradigms and are inflected for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and gender. In terms of pronunciation, Catalan has many words ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant"
"or second language. Catalan (or Valencian) is spoken by 19%, Galician by 5%, and Basque by 2% of the population. Distribution of the regional co-official languages in Spain: Spanish is official throughout the country; the rest of these languages have legal and co-official status in their respective communities, and (except Aranese) are widespread enough to have daily newspapers and significant book publishing and media presence in those communities. In the cases of Catalan and Galician, they are the main languages used by the Catalan and Galician regional governments and local administrations. A number of citizens in these areas consider their"
"these languages proper to Spain, either dialect, cants or pidgins: Languages of Spain The languages of Spain (), or Spanish languages (), are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. Romance languages are the most widely spoken in Spain; of which Spanish, or Castilian, is the only language which has official status for the whole country. Various other languages have co-official or recognised status in specific territories, and a number of unofficial languages and dialects are spoken in certain localities. In terms of the number of speakers and dominance, the most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish"
"is over 9.8 million (2011), with 5.9 million residing in Catalonia. More than half of them speak Catalan as a second language, with native speakers being about 4.4 million of those (more than 2.8 in Catalonia). Very few Catalan monoglots exist; basically, virtually all of the Catalan speakers in Spain are bilingual speakers of Catalan and Spanish, with a sizeable population of Spanish-only speakers of immigrant origin (typically born outside Catalonia or with both parents born outside Catalonia) existing in the major Catalan urban areas as well. In Roussillon, only a minority of French Catalans speak Catalan nowadays, with French"