The decline is particularly notable in Camp de Tarragona, where the use of Catalan as the main language has fallen from 54.4% recorded in 2003 to only 37.9%, according to data from the Linguistic Usage Survey (2025). This downward trend contrasts with Terres de l’Ebre, which, despite a retreat (from 89.4% to 66.5%), remains the territory with the highest presence of the language.
The retreat is observed across most social environments. Among friends, only 15% of respondents speak exclusively Catalan, while Spanish predominates at 31%. This dynamic has spread to sectors where Catalan was traditionally dominant, such as commerce, banking, and healthcare, where it is now below Spanish.
The study reflects that only 22.4% of citizens always initiate conversations in Catalan, a figure much lower than the 55% recorded in the Terres de l’Ebre region.
The decrease also affects exclusive use in key services. In the medical field, the exclusive use of Catalan has dropped from 41% to 26%, and in small commerce from 35.6% to less than 20%. Geographically, the metropolitan area of Tarragona is where Catalan has the lowest presence, with only 24.7% exclusive use.
Concern increases with data on future usage intention. The percentage of people who show no intention of using Catalan in the future has risen significantly, from 19.7% to 29.6%. Simultaneously, those who wish to speak more Catalan have dropped from 34% to 27.8%, consolidating the downward trend in the social use of the language in the region.
