Languages of Catalonia
According to the official government of Catalonia, Catalan is the second most spoken language of the region, after Spanish (over 35% of Catalans use exclusively Catalan as their first language, while 11% of Catalans use equally both Catalan and Spanish). It is the most spoken language in many comarques of Catalonia, with the exception of the Barcelona metropolitan area (Barcelonès plus surrounding comarques) and Camp de Tarragona. Catalan is a compulsory subject in schools and enjoys equals rights with Spanish throughout Catalonia.
Languages of Catalonia
In this context, Catalan was the only language of instruction between 1979 and 2012. Thus, pupils were immersed in Catalan except for three hours per week of Spanish medium instruction. However, the most recent Spanish Education Law and some judicial sentences aim at increasing the time of instruction in Spanish for other subjects, if only one child per class asks it, even if the other families don't agree, because of complaints that current policies hinder the right to an education in Spanish.