Languages of Catalonia
The main cause of Spanish and Catalan social bilingualism in modern Catalonia was large-scale migration from the rest of Spain during the 20th century, as Catalonia started a significant industrialization which demanded an increased workforce from elsewhere. Spanish has historically been spoken among a minority of civil servants born in other regions in Spain and among segments of the wealthiest bourgeoisie. Spanish has also been spoken as a second language by most Catalans, as it has been the only official language over long periods since the eighteenth century.
Plataforma per la Llengua
From 2000 La Plataforma per la Llengua started growing. Before, it was an organisation supported by Col•lectiu l’Esbarzer, but then, an associates basis and a professional structured were created. A new work methodology was applied, reports were written and a consumer net appear. Some events were organised in order to make citizens realise about the linguistic points and claim a business improvement as well as an autonomic government improvement of Catalonia, Valencian Community, Aragon and Balearic Islands and Spanish, French and Italian States.
In 2004, the first Festa de la Joguina en Català (The Game Party in Catalan) was celebrated some days before Christmas. Since then, it has been celebrated once a year to claim children can play in Catalan. In 2005, the first Festa d’Acollida d’Estudiants Universitaris Erasmus (Welcome party for university students with Erasmus Programme) in Barcelona to increase Catalan language in university courses and make new arrival students use Catalan in university courses. In 2005, the first Dia de Sant Jordi act (Saint George's Day), Catalonia’s patron, was celebrated in Plaça de Catalunya, in Barcelona, with other immigrants organisations to reclaim the use of Catalan as a common language. Since then, the organisation has worked together with a 30 immigrant organisations to established the linguistic diversity of Catalan Community and the use of Catalan as a cohesion tool, by using a hundred linguistic partners formed by a Catalan and a person who wants to learn it, and by videos about social cohesion in Catalan that have had a thousand visitors.