60.7% of Girona's population uses Catalan as their usual language, either exclusively or combined with other languages, in the first municipal survey of linguistic uses commissioned in a Catalan city with academic standards. The study, carried out by the University of Girona, places Spanish as the usual language for 26.6% of residents and other languages for 7.9%.
The data can be interpreted in two ways. Although Catalan maintains the first position as the usual language in the city, its knowledge and use are not equivalent, and furthermore, they fall below those of Spanish in all linguistic competencies measured among the population aged 15 or over.
Girona registered a 24.7% maintenance of Catalan compared to 19% in the Girona counties
One of the results that the report highlights the most is the continuity of Catalan in conversations. 24.7% of inhabitants maintain this language when speaking with interlocutors who respond in Spanish, above the 19% registered in the Girona counties and the 13.2% in Catalonia as a whole.
The study also detects that Catalan has a greater presence in specific areas of daily life. It is the most used language in sports, restaurants, and health centers in the city.
Lluc Salellas i Vilar, mayor of Girona, stated that municipal work should serve to raise awareness and promote the social use of Catalan in spaces where the city council can act. The mayor added that the 60.7% of usual use "falls short of what we should want as a city and as a society."
"60.7% falls short of what we should want as a city and as a society" - Lluc Salellas i Vilar, mayor of Girona
Núria Riquelme Zurita, deputy mayor and councilor for Catalan Language, framed the presentation as the first study of linguistic uses promoted by a Catalan city council. The councilor argued that having data allows for setting public policies with a rigorous diagnosis of the situation of Catalan in Girona.
Use with the eldest child rose to 43%, surpassing that of the mother and father
The survey also points to progress in intergenerational transmission. The use of Catalan with the eldest child reaches 43%, above the 36.2% registered with the mother and 37.7% with the father.
In parallel, the most frequent single initial languages are Castilian, with 38.7%, and Catalan, with 34.3%. Another 19.6% have other initial languages, among which Arabic stands out with 22.1%, Punjabi with 11.6%, Romanian and Chinese languages with 10.5% in both cases, and Amazigh with 8.1%.
The demographic composition helps explain that linguistic map. 29.46% of the population was born abroad and 10.4% in the rest of the State, so that four out of ten residents were not born in Catalonia. In that context, 94.3% understand Catalan and 82.4% know how to speak it, while 90.2% know how to read it and 74% know how to write it.
Riquelme also stressed that maintaining Catalan in everyday conversations is a central piece for increasing the number of habitual speakers. In his opinion, the study indicates that the future of the language depends on the commitment of citizens in daily uses.
The fieldwork was carried out by the company Vox Populi between November and December 2025 with a representative sample of the population aged 15 or over, under the direction of Narcís Iglésias and Carla Ferrerós, professors at the University of Girona.