The FC Barcelona and the Ministry of Culture They held an institutional meeting this Tuesday to share initiatives to promote the Catalan language in sports and institutions. The meeting was headed by the president of the club, Joan Laportaand the counselor Natalia Garrigawho have been accompanied by the first vice president Rafa Yuste and the Secretary of Language Policy, Francesc Xavier Vila.
The work meeting, which took place at the club’s facilities, is part of the round being developed by the Department of Culture to weave alliances within the framework of the National Pact for the Languagewho also wants the use of Catalan not to be left out of sports practice, which is widespread and present throughout the country.
President Joan Laporta stressed that “we are an entity committed to the Catalan culture and language, which we consider a priority issue for FC Barcelona. Catalan is the club’s own language, and it is used preferentially in all our activities, as stated in the Statutes”.
In recent months the FC Barcelona has promoted collaboration agreements and alliances with leading institutions and organizations with which they share common objectives, such as the case of Omnium Culturalthe Fundació Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música Catalanathe Gran Teatre del Liceuthe National Theater of Cataloniathe Catalan Tourism Agencythe Montserrat Abbeythe Catalan Encyclopedia Foundation o Approach Culture. President The door has also highlighted that more recently it has been announced that Spotify will offer its platform in Catalan, a success achieved thanks to the work carried out in the framework of negotiating the sponsorship agreement with this platform, a world leader in audiovisual content.
The counselor Natalia Garrigameanwhile, highlighted the significant potential of an entity such as the Barçaone of the sports clubs with the most members in the world, in terms of promoting the Catalan language: “Sport creates magnificent environments to encourage the use of Catalan, full of relaxation and camaraderie”, he explained, “and the Barça is a benchmark and has great power when it comes to setting an example.”
The role of Barça as a universal reference
The FC Barcelona It is recognized throughout the world for having professional sections in the elite of European club sports competitions, both in its men’s and women’s teams, as well as in different sports disciplines. As the Minister concluded Garriga, “the linguistic attitude of a successful footballer, but also of the coaches, managers and technicians, is a very clear message to his followers.” In this sense, an entity such as FC Barcelona is surely a universal benchmark, especially in terms of the transmission of the values of proximity and heritage, such as La Masia, and its exemplary role in the social dimension of sport, both through the penyes barcelonistas as through the direct testimony of its protagonists, which can be maximum referring to the transmission of the language as a patrimonial value of the club”.
The Secretary for Language Policy, Francesc Xavier Vilahas argued that “sport cuts across all social strata, with obvious linguistic implications”, he stressed, since “it involves an important network of people who communicate continuously and at the same time generates first-rate social references, who with their attitudes clearly influence the behavior of society.
Before the meeting, the Minister made a tour of the Barca Museumwhere he was able to see first-hand part of the heritage exhibited by this facility which, in addition to bearing witness to the sporting history of the entity it represents, also houses an important artistic and cultural collection.
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