Do I need to learn Catalan if I go to Spain?

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GPapenburg

I plan to start a company in the United States. Do I need to learn English?

would be the same question. If you want to start a business, you should be able to speak the language of your customers, which is Catalan in Barcelona, and the language of the country, which is Spain, unless your business will be that exclusively, that customers are begging to be served by you and learn English.

bcn_mimosa

Yes its important that you learn Catalan. School is taught in Catalan here, NOT SPANISH.. so even thought its a Bilingual city, it will be to your benefit to learn Catalan for your future company..

Take care,

Bcn_mimosa

rtorto

If you're planning to open a company whose proffesional acivity is centered or focused towards catalan customers, or a shop, bar, restaurant, petrol station, etc or any other business otherwise related to public, individual customers within the catalan region, then you are required BY LAW to be able to communicate with customers AT LEAST in catalan, and to deliver all neccesary/required written information, AT LEAST in catalan.

Evil J

It doesn't hurt, but it is far from being necessary.

alex

If you want to life and work in Cataluña, you most learn Catalan, depends on what kind of activity you are going to offer, but al least some knowledge.

megan

I mean, it definately wont hurt! but its not necessary! mostly everyone there speaks Spanish. I just got home from Bareclona last night, and i spoke Spanish to all the waiters and stuff and there understood me just fine!

DannoREA

Absolutely! I speak passable spanish and my wife is from a spanish speaking country, but more often than not, we had to have our menu translated for us. Learn Catalan! It will serve you well there!

mariposa

No really. You need to learn Spanish , it is the same of Castellano, but Catalan is spoken in Cataluna.Gallego in Galicia, and Euskera in the Vasco country.

LEONÉS

no, you don´t

bad bob

if you are coming to Spain language is not that important

♥♫мαяγ♪♣ ριи υρ

No, spanish is sufficient.

Im spanish.

SUE

OF COURSE NOT!

Everyone in Barcelona knows Spanish. If you already know Spanish, you will be fine! Everything is signed in Catalán. They will LOVE it if you can use a couple of phrases, but you will understand everything that is going on. Catalán is, after all, a dialect of Spanish, which means that if you know Spanish, you will understand, though you will need to learn Catalán to SPEAK it.

If you don't know Spanish, you could run into some trouble, but it seems that even people who only speak English can get along pretty well. Especially if it's only a vacation.

If you want to start a company, you might want to learn some Catalán, and knowing Spanish will be important.

If you aren't from an EU country, you will need a work visa or a permit to own a company and live there, so you need to make sure you understand all the details. I understand that the red tape can be difficult for that. Work Visas are in short supply these days, and if your business is going to be in construction, you are likely to find it difficult to get off the ground. If it's anything else, you should find it okay. No more competition than anyplace else. Study the reality, not the dream.

Y ¡buena suerte!

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