Autonomous community | Co-official language | Spanish | Co-official language | Equal use | Others |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Catalonia | Catalan and Aranese | 55.1% | 31.0% | 2.4% | 10.1% |
Valencia | Valencian (variety of Catalan) | 60.8% | 28.8% | 9.5% | 0.8% |
Galicia | Galician | 30.9% | 40.9% | 25.3% | 2.9% |
Basque Country | Basque | 76.4% | 17.5% | 6.0% | n/d |
Balearic Islands | Catalan | 48.6% | 37.9% | 3.6% | 9.9% |
Navarra | Basque | 91.9% | 6.1% | 2.8% | n/d |
There is a variety of Vernacular languages spoken in Spain. Spanish, the official language in the entire country, is the predominant native language in almost all of the autonomous communities in Spain. Six of the seventeen autonomous communities in Spain have other co-official languages in addition to Spanish. Bilingualism in different degrees and in distinct communicative situations between Spanish and another language is a habitual practice for many of the Spanish people who reside in one of these autonomous communities.
According to the Survey of the Involvement of the Adult Population in Learning Activities [2] distributed by the National Institute of Statistics with data from 2016, in regards to the languages in Spain that are native languages or languages that are not native but used, 98.9% of the population speaks Spanish, 17.5% speaks Catalan, 6.2% speaks Galician, 5.8% speaks Valencian (a variety of Catalan) and 3.0% speaks Basque. For autonomous communities, Catalan can be used by almost 85% of the population of Catalonia and 63.1% of the Balearic region, Galician is used by 89% of Galicians, Valencian is used by 51.8% of the residents in that community and Basque is spoken by 55.1% of the Basque population and 21.7% of people in Navarre. With regard to native languages alone, Galician is the native language of 82.8% of Galicians, Catalan is the native language of 31.6% of people in Catalonia and of 42.9% of the residents in the Balearic region. Valencian (a variety of Catalan) is the native language of 35.2% of the population in that community and Basque is the native language of 33.7% of the Basque people and of 14.6% of those from Navarre. [3]
With the exception of Basque, which is a language isolate, all of the vernacular languages spoken now in Spain are Romance languages, within the family of the Indo-European languages. The majority belong to the sub-group of languages Iberian Romance, with the exception of Catalan/Valencian and Aranese, belonging to the Occitano-Romances and Aragonese. Affiliation between one subgroup or the other is a cause for active discussion.
Spanish (sometimes called Castilian) is the only official language of the entire country and is spoken habitually and as a native language among a vast majority of the Spanish population. Spain is, along with Colombia [4] and after Mexico and the United States, [5] ranked third in the world as the country with the most Spanish speakers.
Spanish is the only official language in Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, Aragon, Castile and León, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and the region of Murcia, as well as Ceuta, Melilla, and half of Navarre.
It is also co-official with other languages in Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Valencia, Galicia, Basque Country and the Basque zone of Navarre. In all of the bilingual autonomous communities, with the exception of Galicia, Spanish is actually the native language of the majority of the population, although this is due in large part to the internal migration processes that occurred in Spain from the middle of the 20th century.
The predominance of Spanish started in the Middle Ages with the Reconquista, expanding throughout the Kingdom of Castile (in which the language was born) and later to other areas in the Iberian peninsula; it had cultural prestige and was also spoken in part of the Kingdom of Aragon and of the Kingdom of Navarre. It gained importance in becoming an auxiliary language, along with commercial and diplomatic communication, in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the following centuries Spanish continued its expansion at the expense of the languages bordering with it; this is shown clearly in the case of the Leonese and Aragonese languages, and also in the case of Basque. During the second half of the 20th century, Francoism drove the regional languages away from public use and favored the use of Spanish; the internal migrations happening around the same time contributed to the predominance of Spanish too. This situation was reverted with the arrival of democracy in Spain and especially with the passing of the Constitution of 1978 which recognized the co-official status of the regional languages in their respective territories; from then on the bilingual autonomous communities began several different policies to normalize the use of their languages, a situation that had special success in the field of education.
The autonomous communities have established the following official languages in their respective territories: Catalan in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, Valencian (a variety of Catalan) in Valencia, Galician in Galicia, Basque in the Basque Country and a part of Navarre, and the Aranese language in the Aran Valley. Catalan and Valencian are considered two varieties of the same language.
Catalan or Valencian have the recognition of an official language in Catalonia along with Spanish, as well as in the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community; in Aragon, the Statute of Autonomy defines the language, along with Aragonese, as "one of the manifestations that most stand out of Aragonese history and culture and a social value of respect, coexistence, and understanding". In all of these territories the official name for the language is Catalan, while in Valencia the official name is Valencian.
Additionally, within Spain Catalan is also spoken, though not official, in the easternmost part of Aragon (known as La Franja) [9] and in the region of El Carche, in the northeastern region of Murcia.
In total, Catalan is the language spoken at home by approximately 4,452,000 Spanish citizens.
Galician is co-official in Galicia (Spanish Constitution of 1978 article 3.2 and Statute of Autonomy of Galicia article 5). It also has "respect and protection" in Castile and León, according to article 5.3 of the Organic Law 14/2007, of 30 November, from the reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Castile and León; Galician is spoken in a northwestern corner of that community. Galician belongs, along with Spanish, to the group of Iberian Romance languages, and is closely related to Portuguese, with which it formed linguistic unity (Galician-Portuguese) during the Middle Ages. In fact, according to some Galician and Portuguese authors, they should still be considered a single language today despite the differences that have appeared since the Middle Ages (see Reintegrationism). Galician has three main dialectal areas: western, central, and eastern; those are subdivided into other areas. In addition to Galicia, Galician is spoken in western Asturias and in the westernmost area of the provinces of Leon and Zamora. The Fala of the Valley of Jalama in northwestern Extremadura is related to Portuguese and also to Galician.
In Galicia, Galician is the native language of 40.9% of the population, 30.9% claim Spanish as their native language, and 25.3% have both languages as native; 50.8% of the population habitually use more Galician than Spanish, while 47.8% habitually use Spanish. [10]
As in other autonomous communities, Spanish is the language that is spoken most in urban areas of Galicia, while Galician is spoken in rural areas. In total, Galician is the language spoken at home by approximately 1,302,000 people. Another 563,000 speak Galician interchangeably with Spanish. Unlike in Catalonia, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands, in Galicia the main cause of the advance of Spanish over the local language (Galician) is not immigration, but language shift.
Basque is a co-official language with Spanish in the Basque Country and in the northern third of the Foral Community in Navarre. There are six main Basque dialects and a standard variety, Standard Basque.
Basque is spoken altogether by almost one million Spanish citizens (2.15% of the population).
Aranese, a variety of Occitan/Gascon spoken in the Aran Valley, in the northwest of Lleida province, is official in this valley and from 2006 in all of Catalonia following the new Statute of Autonomy. In the Aran Valley, Spanish is the native language of 38.8% of the population (many of them born elsewhere), Aranese is the native language of 34.2% and Catalan of 19.4%, according to the data from the census in 2001. [13] Aranese is the native language of about 2,800 people, representing 0.007% of the population of Spain.
In addition to the official languages, some languages in Spain enjoy status as "protected languages." [14] [15] [16] In contrast to the co-official languages, a protected language
While protected languages may be available as electives, they are not required in any schools, as are the co-official languages. Additionally, protected languages are not used as the vehicular language in any region. The status of protected languages is often debated, and as of May 2023 [update] , there are movements to promote Aragonese and Asturian from protected to co-official status. [17]
Aragonese is a romance language spoken by 25,556 native speakers (56,235 including passive speakers) according to a 2011 study. [18]
As of 2023, Aragonese is offered as a subject in about 30 schools of the Aragon region, with around 1,300 students. [19] Limited Aragonese-language television content is available on the regional public broadcaster, with shows such as A Escampar la Boira or Charrín Charrán. Aragonese is protected by the government of Aragon [20]
Asturian language is spoken by 100,000 native speakers (400,000 including pasive speakers) [21] in the region of Asturias.
Limited Asturian-language broadcasting is available on RTPA, and the language is learned as an optional subject by a 53% of primary education students. [22] There is a prominent movement demanding for the declaration of Asturian as an official language in Asturias, which is a matter of an ongoing political debate. [23] At this moment Asturian is a protected language, [24] but could be co-official soon. [25]
The Astur-leonese variant known as leonese is spoken in the Castile and Leon region, where it has protection.
Catalan, known in the Valencian Community and Carche as Valencian, is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian. It has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero, and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia. The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".
In Spain, an autonomous community is the first sub-national level of political and administrative division, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy of the nationalities and regions that make up Spain.
Gascon is the vernacular Romance variety spoken mainly in the region of Gascony, France. It is often considered a variety of Occitan, although some authors consider it a different language.
Ribagorçan is a number of Romance dialects spoken in the modern territories of the medieval County of Ribagorza, in northern Spain.
The Iberian Romance, Ibero-Romance or sometimes Iberian languages are a group of Romance languages that developed on the Iberian Peninsula, an area consisting primarily of Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Andorra and southern France. They are today more commonly separated into West Iberian and Occitano-Romance language groups.
The Catalan Countries are those territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencian Community, and parts of Aragon and Murcia (Carche), as well as the Principality of Andorra, the department of Pyrénées-Orientales in France, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia (Italy). It is often used as a sociolinguistic term to describe the cultural-linguistic area where Catalan is spoken. In the context of Catalan nationalism, the term is sometimes used in a more restricted way to refer to just Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The Catalan Countries do not correspond to any present or past political or administrative unit, though most of the area belonged to the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages. Parts of Valencia (Spanish) and Catalonia (Occitan) are not Catalan-speaking.
La Franja is the area of Catalan-speaking territories of eastern Aragon bordering Catalonia, in Spain. It literally means "the strip" and can also more properly be called Franja d'Aragó, Franja de Ponent or Franja Oriental d'Aragó in Catalan.
The culture of Spain is influenced by its Western origin, its interaction with other cultures in Europe, its historically Catholic religious tradition, and the varied national and regional identities within the country. It encompasses literature, music, visual arts, cuisine as well as contemporary customs, beliefs, institutions, and social norms. Beyond Spain, Spanish culture is the foundation of most of Latin American cultures and the Filipino culture.
Education in Spain is compulsory and free for all children aged between 6 and 16 years and is supported by the national government together with the governments of each of the country's 17 autonomous communities.
The majority of languages of Spain belong to the Romance language family, of which Spanish is the only one with official status in the whole country. Others, including Catalan/Valencian and Galician, enjoy official status in their respective autonomous regions, similar to Basque in the northeast of the country. A number of other languages and dialects belonging to the Romance continuum exist in Spain, such as Aragonese, Asturian, Fala and Aranese Occitan.
There have been many languages spoken in the Iberian Peninsula.
Spain is a diverse country integrated by contrasting entities with varying economic and social structures, languages, and historical, political and cultural traditions. The Spanish constitution responds ambiguously to the claims of historic nationalities while proclaiming a common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards.
Both the perceived nationhood of Spain, and the perceived distinctions between different parts of its territory derive from historical, geographical, linguistic, economic, political, ethnic and social factors.
The Aragonese are the Romance people self-identified with the historical region of Aragon, in inland northeastern Spain. Their Aragonese language, which might have been spoken in the whole of the Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Navarre and La Rioja in the Middle Ages, is nowadays a seriously endangered language, natively spoken only by around 25,000 people in the northern mountain area of the autonomous community of Aragon. In 2009, the Aragonese language was recognized by the regional government as the "native language, original and historic" of Aragon, and it received several linguistic rights, such as use in public administration. This legislation was repealed by a new law in 2013.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Spain:
Navarro-Aragonese was a Romance language once spoken in a large part of the Ebro River basin, south of the middle Pyrenees; the dialects of the modern Aragonese language, spoken in a small portion of that territory, can be seen as its last remaining forms. The areas where Navarro-Aragonese was spoken might have included most of Aragon, southern Navarre, and La Rioja. It was also spoken across several towns of central Navarre in a multilingual environment with Occitan, where Basque was the native language.
The 2007 Spanish regional elections were held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the regional parliaments of thirteen of the seventeen autonomous communities—Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile and León, Castilla–La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre and the Valencian Community—, not including Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which had separate electoral cycles. 812 of 1,206 seats in the regional parliaments were up for election, as well as the 50 seats in the regional assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla. The elections were held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.
The 2011 Spanish regional elections were held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the regional parliaments of thirteen of the seventeen autonomous communities—Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile and León, Castilla–La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre and the Valencian Community—, not including Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which had separate electoral cycles. 824 of 1,218 seats in the regional parliaments were up for election, as well as the 50 seats in the regional assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla. The elections were held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.
The 2015 Spanish regional elections were held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the regional parliaments of thirteen of the seventeen autonomous communities—Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile and León, Castilla–La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre and the Valencian Community—, not including Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which had separate electoral cycles. 804 of 1,198 seats in the regional parliaments were up for election, as well as the 50 seats in the regional assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla. The elections were held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.
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