Languages of Spain

The languages spoken in Spain include:

• Spanish. Official throughout the country, it is spoken by the majority of the population.
• Catalan/Valencian, co-official in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community. Catalan is also spoken, although not official, in the eastern strip of Aragon (La Franja)^[6] and in the Carche area of the Region of Murcia.^[7] It is known as Valencian in the Valencian Community^[8][9] and el Carche.
• Galician, co-official in Galicia. It is also spoken in nearby areas of Asturias and Castile and León.
• Basque, co-official in the Basque Country and northern Navarre (see Basque-speaking zone). Basque is a language isolate, having no demonstrable relationship with any other languages.
• Aranese is a standardized variety of Occitan which is co-official in Catalonia.^[10] It is spoken in the Val d'Aran, near the French border.
• Asturian, a standardized variety of the Asturleonese dialect continuum. It enjoys protection in Asturias, where reportedly about 25% of the population is able to understand, speak, read, and write in the language.^[11] Asturleonese varieties collectively known as Leonese are spoken in parts of Castile and León (provinces of León and Zamora), where they enjoy legal protection. Also, the Extremaduran variant of Asturleonese has been declared Bien de Interés Cultural.^[12]
• Aragonese, spoken in northern Aragon, in the Pyrenees. It enjoys legal protection, though it is not a co-official language in Aragon.^[13]
• Fala, spoken in the comarca of Sierra de Gata (Extremadura). It has been declared Bien de Interés Cultural.^[14]
• Silbo Gomero is a whistled code in La Gomera (Canary Islands). Protected by UNESCO^[15] (Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity).
• Portuguese has been traditionally spoken by the inhabitants of the following border areas: Cedillo and Herrera de Alcántara (province of Cáceres),^[16] La Alamedilla (province of Salamanca, primarily spoken in the place up until the mid-20th century),^[17] and Olivenza (small territory in the province of Badajoz claimed by Portugal).
• Maghrebi Arabic (Darija) is spoken in Ceuta. It lacks government protection.^[18]
• Tarifit is spoken in Melilla. It lacks government protection.^[19]
• Caló, a mixed language, is spoken by the Spanish Romani communities across the country, with a large concentration in Andalusia and Catalonia, though it seems to be in the process of becoming just a dialect of Spanish. It should not be confused with Romani, the Indo-Aryan language originally spoken by the Roma, which is most probably no longer spoken in Spain.

Spanish itself boasts a substantial internal variation in the country. For example, the Andalusian or Canarian dialects, each with their own subvarieties, some of them being partially closer to the Spanish of the Americas, which they heavily influenced to varying degrees, depending on the region or period and according to different and non-homogeneous migrating or colonisation processes. Despite being a dialect, some Andalusian speakers have attempted to promote Andalusian as a different language independent of Spanish.

Five very localised dialects are of difficult filiation: Fala (a variety mostly ascribed to the Galician-Portuguese group locally spoken in an area of the province of Cáceres sometimes called Valley of Jálama/Xálima, which includes the towns of San Martín de Trevejo, Eljas and Valverde del Fresno); Cantabrian and Extremaduran, two Astur-Leonese dialects also regarded as Spanish dialects; Eonavian, a dialect between Asturian and Galician, closer to the latter according to several linguists; and Benasquese, a Ribagorçan dialect that was formerly classified as Catalan, later as Aragonese, and which is now often regarded as a transitional language of its own. Asturian and Leonese are closely related to the local Mirandese which is spoken on an adjacent territory but over the border into Portugal. Mirandese is recognised and has some local official status.

In terms of the number of speakers and dominance, the most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish, spoken by about 99% of Spaniards as a first or second language.^[21] According to a 2019 Pew Research survey, the most commonly spoken languages at home other than Spanish were Catalan in 8% of households, Valencian in 4%, Galician in 3% and Basque in 1%.^[20] A study in 2016 by the University of Navarra focused on which languages were used most frequently to consume news within a week (using multiple-choice surveys). The response included foreign languages, Spanish and only co-official and protected languages. 95.2% of news was consumed in Spanish and 30.4% in a co-official or protected language.^[22] The study reflects that the consumption of protected languages is proportional to their knowledge and that the consumption of foreign-language news is greater than that of regional-language news.

Spanish is official throughout the country; Catalan/Valencian, Galician, Basque, and Aranese Occitan have legal and co-official status in their respective communities and (except Aranese Occitan) are widespread enough to have daily newspapers and significant book publishing and media presence. Catalan and Galician are the main languages used by the respective regional governments and local administrations. Starting in 2023, members of the lower house of the Spanish Parliament were allowed to use Basque, Catalan and Galician in their interventions.^[24] Members of the upper house already could use those languages in some specific discussions and initiatives.^[25]

In addition to these, there are some protected languages. A protected language does not have co-official status but can be taught in schools as an optional subject, with the possibility of having TV shows in the protected language as well as institutions for that language.

Limited Asturian-language broadcasting is available on RTPA, and the language is learned as an optional subject by 53% of primary education students.^[26] 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.^[27][28]

As of 2023, Aragonese is offered as a subject in about 30 schools in Aragon, with around 1,300 students.^[29] Limited Aragonese-language television content is available on the regional public broadcaster, with shows such as A Escampar la Boira^[30] or Charrín Charrán.^[31]

Regarding education, the models vary considerably. Some schools in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands guarantee the possibility of an education entirely in the regional language, but most of the schools apply bilingual education with more weight of Catalan.^{[citation needed]} In Galicia, the Galician language is prohibited in certain subjects by law, restricted to a maximum of one-third of education and absent in 92% of the first education of Galician students.^{[citation needed]} In the Valencian Community the existence of Catalan-speaking areas and Spanish-speaking areas generates debates about the presence of the language in education, proposing an equal presence of Valencian (Catalan) and Spanish, which does not conform to any of the linguistic parts.^{[citation needed]}

As for non-official languages, Asturian can be studied as an optional subject in both primary school and high school, a policy that has been in place since 1984.^[32] Aragonese is de facto not taught due to the lack of teachers, even though there is demand for it in many schools.^{[citation needed]} As for Leonese, Extremaduran, Galician outside Galicia, and Xalimego, they are totally excluded from regional education.^{[citation needed]}

Alongside the languages spoken in Spain to the present day, other languages were spoken within the actual borders:

• Tartessian language
• Iberian language
• Celtic languages
  • Celtiberian language
  • Gallaecian language
• Lusitanian language
• Punic language
• Guanche language
• Gothic language
• Vandalic language
• Frankish language
• Arabic
  • Andalusi Arabic
  • Classical Arabic
  • Judeo-Arabic
• Mozarabic languages
• Romani language

Languages mostly spoken outside Spain but which had roots in Spain:

• Judeo-Catalan (the existence of a distinct Jewish-Catalan variety different from the Catalan used by Christians has been questioned).^[33]
• Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)^[34]

There are also variants of these languages proper to Spain, either dialects, cants or pidgins:

• Barallete
• Bron
• Caló
• Cheli
• Erromintxela
• Fala dos arxinas
• Gacería
• Germanía
• Xíriga

• Iberian languages
• Languages of Portugal
• Iberian Romance languages
• Language policies of Francoist Spain