Barcelona suspends Guardia Urbana officer for 24 days over refusal to speak Catalan

The sanction

Barcelona's city council has suspended a Guardia Urbana officer from his job and pay for 24 days after finding that he treated a citizen improperly during a July 2026 police stop. Municipal sources gave the details to Europa Press and El Periódico, and the decision was reported on Thursday, 5 November 2026. The council describes the conduct as serious negligence in performing his duties, and says the officer's behaviour fell short of the respect, correction and professionalism expected of the force. The resolution is not final and can be appealed, which leaves the outcome open for now. The council stresses that the penalty is for improper treatment and negligence rather than for linguistic discrimination as such.

What happened in July

The incident took place in July, when a Guardia Urbana patrol intervened with a woman who had entered an area with restricted passage. She asked to be attended to in Catalan, and the male officer refused, according to the recording she made. Municipal sources say that during the intervention, attitudes and expressions were produced that were considered incompatible with the standards expected of members of the force. In part of the video published by Plataforma per la Llengua, the officer is heard saying that forcing people to speak a language they do not want is 'very fascist'. In the same recording the woman tells him she is filming him and that she pays his salary, and he replies that she is attempting a form of totalitarianism.

The complaint and the investigation

Plataforma per la Llengua filed the complaint and published part of the recording on its social media accounts. Once it learned of the facts, the Unidad de Deontología y Asuntos Internos (UDAI) of the Guardia Urbana opened an internal investigation. After completing it, the unit passed its conclusions to the municipal services responsible for human resources, which then imposed the 24-day suspension. The Guardia Urbana's leadership has also reminded all of its officers that the first verbal interaction with citizens should generally take place in Catalan, in line with municipal criteria on proximity and service quality. The council says it remains committed to guaranteeing the linguistic rights of Barcelona residents.

Reaction from the complainant group

The group's president, Òscar Escuder, reacted to the decision in a statement.

“This resolution shows that linguistic discrimination by police forces is neither a subjective perception nor a minor matter.”

Plataforma per la Llengua values the resolution positively, seeing it as institutional recognition of a violation of the woman's linguistic rights. The group argues that, beyond the sanction, the key point is the official acknowledgement of these facts, because most complaints of discrimination in police matters are archived. It says that officers are obliged to start conversations in Catalan and to respect the language in which citizens ask to be served.