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.
National and regional identity in Spain
Over the past few decades, a concept known as the Catalan Countries ("Països Catalans") has developed as a strand of Catalan nationalism advocated by the Valencian writer Joan Fuster. This is the idea that Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and a few other places in Spain and in other European countries are united by the fact that they share Catalan as a historic language, and are in this way distinct from the rest of Spain. In Valencia, however, reservations are frequently expressed about being included in this concept.