In this moment of decline in the social use of Catalan, aggravated in Barcelona, Jaume Collboni’s City Council has taken another step in its commitment to promote the use of the language in the city. After joining the National Pact for the Catalan Language, an initiative of the Generalitat, and having appointed Marta Salicrú as the first commissioner for Catalan, this Thursday the House of Digital Creation of Català presented itself with an event in Palo Alto, in the presence of the mayor and leader of the ERC in the council, Elisenda Alamany. This new space will offer services to digital content creators with the aim of generating more opportunities, of higher quality and, at the same time, stimulating new entrepreneurs to bet on Catalan.
The project provisionally begins in the Convent de Barcelona Activa building, in the Born district, but it is expected that during 2026 it will move to the ground floor of Illa Glòries, in one of the new buildings surrounding the square. Collboni encouraged those present to transform the space into “a true showcase of stimulating projects”, coinciding precisely with the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Franco, who persecuted the Catalan language with an iron fist. Likewise, the mayor stated that “this project is an act of democratic affirmation and defense of Catalan as an instrument of social cohesion”.
According to the latest survey on linguistic uses conducted by the Department of Linguistic Policy and the Institute of Statistics of Catalonia (Idescat), a quarter of the population never uses Catalan and only a third (33%) has it as their usual language. The House of Creation aims to promote the use of its language on social networks and in the digital world with the aim of having an impact in public spaces. This is what Marta Salicrú says, who claims that the services of this space will also encourage more creators to bet on Catalan. “We want to stop them from believing that they can reach a larger audience in Spanish, we will help them understand that this is not the case,” he says.
The project will offer spaces, studios, technology, support staff, specific training or appropriate business consultancy for each creator, taking into account the phase they are in. It will work with incubation programs that interested parties need to apply for. Among the objectives, one of the main ones is to build networks with industry and economic operators so that the projects are feasible. “The aim is that all this stimulates the presence of Catalan in the digital sphere and that this translates into a greater presence on the street,” summarizes Salicrú.
The House of Digital Creation was presented with an event that lasted all day in Palo Alto, in the presence of established content creators such as Berta Aroca, Cèlia Espanya or Pol Casellas, who took to the stage to talk about their experiences. The three were enthusiastic about the proposal, among other things because it is a very solitary job, underlined Cèlia Espanya, or to make it more professional, added Berta Aroca. Bureaucratic and technical support was one of Pol Casellas’ requests, especially for those just starting out.
Elisenda Alamany also participated in the official presentation ceremony, predicting that the House of Digital Creation, agreed with the Collboni government in the framework of the 2025 Budget, will be a “key element” to maintain the balance between success and identity of the city, which she considers its main challenge. Also present were the general director of Barcelona Activa, Lorenzo Di Pietro, who underlined the desire for the project to generate “quality employment”, and the director of Betevé, Georgina Ferri; the director of the CCMA, Rosa Romà and the president of Accent Obert, Genís Roca.
During the day, the intricacies of successful podcasts such as Déus i Simis were also revealed, with interviews with musicians; The evening was enlivened by the music of DJ Trapella, DJ and producer; There was a comedy show about creating content in Catalan by Indicatiu o the crossed (cross) between two of the most listened to projects in Catalan, Can Putades and La Trinae.
