The retreat in exclusive use is particularly notable in the context of friendships, where only 15% of citizens speak solely in Catalan, a figure contrasting with the 31% who speak only in Spanish. Two decades ago, both languages were tied in this context. As a principal language (exclusive or dominant), Catalan falls below 30% among friends, far behind the 41.7% of Spanish.
Catalan has lost its status as the majority language in all analyzed contexts, including small commerce, banking, and medical staff, where it was predominant two decades ago.
The decline is widespread. In the medical staff environment, the exclusive use of Catalan has dropped drastically from 41% to 26%. A sharp decrease is also observed in banking and large commerce. Furthermore, the survey indicates a drop in the willingness to maintain Catalan when the interlocutor switches to Spanish, falling from 18.5% to 13.2% of speakers.
By territory, the areas with the highest exclusive use of Catalan remain the Terres de l'Ebre (66.5%) and Central Catalonia (59.6%). However, the largest drops occurred in the regions of Girona and Ponent, with retreats of more than 25 percentage points. In Girona, the habitual use of Catalan has fallen from 70% to 45% of the population in twenty years.
