At her final Barcelona show at Palau Sant Jordi, Aitana spoke in Catalan and called the language Catalonia’s most impressive asset. Her words resonated in a city where Catalan’s future is hotly debated.
Raised in Sant Climent de Llobregat and educated in Catalonia’s public schools, Aitana addressed the crowd in Catalan. She said that although her family spoke Spanish at home, school made her fluent in Catalan. She admitted her skills had faded after years away, a detail that struck a chord with many in the audience.
Aitana performed four sold-out concerts at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, drawing around 74,000 people in total.
Her speech wasn’t improvised. In the days before the show, she asked friends to speak Catalan with her to help regain her confidence. On stage, she explained that she wanted to honor her roots and the language of her childhood, even if it felt unfamiliar now.
The timing was pointed. The Generalitat’s 2023 Survey of Linguistic Uses found that only 24.7% of people in Barcelona’s metropolitan area now use Catalan exclusively in daily life. The decline has sharpened debate about the language’s future, especially in cities where Spanish is dominant. Aitana’s public support brought fresh attention to the issue, backed by her five million followers and more than 20 million monthly listeners.
Clips of her speech spread quickly on social media, drawing thousands of views and sparking discussion among fans. Aitana has used Catalan in public before, but this was her most direct and sustained message yet. The crowd applauded, while the broader conversation played out online, with reactions ranging from pride to concern about Catalan’s future.
Media outlets noted that Aitana's Catalan-language remarks were widely shared online, fueling debate among fans and the public. Her concert was viewed as part of a broader resurgence of interest in Catalan music and culture in Barcelona.
During her address, Aitana encouraged the audience to seek out more Catalan-language culture. She named the true crime series Crims by Carles Porta as a personal favorite and urged people to support local media and content. Her call comes as Catalan artists and educators continue to defend the language’s place in schools and public life.
The Barcelona concerts closed one part of Aitana’s tour. She now heads to Madrid and Bilbao before taking her Cuarto Azul Tour to other cities in Europe and the Americas. Her Catalan message is likely to echo beyond Palau Sant Jordi, especially as language policy remains a flashpoint in Catalonia.
Recent events have renewed focus on Catalan identity and its preservation. The death of Rosa Maria Duran, a basic figure for Catalan exiles, was reported earlier and reminds readers what is at stake. Aitana’s speech placed her in a generational conversation about language and belonging in Catalonia. A mainstream pop artist’s decision to defend Catalan on stage points to the urgency of the issue and the shifts in the region’s cultural field.
