NPR

For Catalonia's Separatists, Language Is The Key To Identity

Many separatists say their Catalan language is what makes them feel most different from the rest of Spain. The language was prohibited during years of dictatorship, but now it's ubiquitous in schools.
A banner hangs in the courtyard of a University of Barcelona building that reads, "The future is ours," in Catalan. Students are "occupying" the building ahead of an independence vote.

Inside a Barcelona film studio, a technician cues up a scene from the movie Prisoners, showing Jake Gyllenhaal's latest car chase.

Then a local actor — albeit one who's slightly older, balder and plumper than Gyllenhaal — delivers the Hollywood actor's lines in Catalan.

In Spain's northeast region of Catalonia, that's the official language, along with Spanish. Movies, television programs —

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