Spain is home to a whole host of languages, and probably not the ones you would expect!
Since it’s a country I really want to visit, I thought I should delve into the languages that are present there.
Spanish is an obvious one, but there are many other native languages there that you probably haven’t heard of!
Spanish, the Official Language in Spain
It should come as no surprise that the language named after Spain is the official language of Spain.
Over 80% of the country speaks this language natively, if not more! It is, of course, spoken well beyond the borders of Spain, covering most of South and Central America as well as Mexico and parts of the United States!
I’ve written an easy guide for Spanish Grammar to help you get around, in case you need it!
You’ll find Spanish anywhere in the country, but central and southern Spain (including Madrid) make up the highest population of speakers.
What about the English Language in Spain?
Finding English in Spain might be a little tough.
English is one of the more widely-spoken languages in Spain. This isn’t saying much, though, as it’s still only spoken by about 25% of people in the country. This distribution is not going to be consistent across the country, either.
You’ll have a much easier time exploring Spain if you get at least some basic Spanish. Don’t rely on English for everything, or you might get stuck!
Native Languages in Spain
Spanish is not even close to the only native language in Spain.
In fact, there are at least 6 in the country, with several others having a long-time historical influence, like Arabic. (I’ll get to that one later.)
The native languages in Spain include the following:
- Spanish
- Catalan
- Basque
- Galician
- Occitan
- Asturian
Now, if you haven’t heard of these before, don’t worry. I only knew some vague details about them before doing research for this post! I’ll get into what makes some of them so special.
I would like to quickly add that, while these are separate languages and consider themselves as such, the line between language and dialect is often difficult to identify.
Catalan
We’ll start with Catalan, since it’s the most common of the five.
By some counts, it has 9 million speakers, while others show about half of that. That means it makes up about 10-20% of the population.
It developed out of Latin like Spanish, but generated its own grammar and vocab over time. It’s been around for at least 900 years, too, so has a rich, longstanding history just like Spanish.
You’re most likely to find Catalan in eastern-southeastern Spain, as well as the Balearic Islands off the eastern coast.
Basque
Someone from Basque Country in Spain came to my high school as an exchange student, but before then I had never heard the word “Basque” in my life!
You’ll mainly find it in Northern Spain and along the northeastern border with France. These areas comprise Navarre and Basque Country.
This one is particularly interesting because, unlike many of the languages in this post and across Europe, it did not evolve from Latin.
In fact, linguists aren’t really sure where it came from and can’t tie its origins to any other known language!
This is what’s called an ‘isolate’, a language that developed entirely on its own.
I’m sure Spanish and other languages have influenced its development, but it still remains completely unique among Spain’s languages!
Galician
Galician’s origins lie in both Spanish and Portuguese, but it’s since developed into its own distinct language with unique grammar, vocab, and pronunciation!
The main region where you’ll find it lies in Spain’s northwest, where it’s spoken by around 2 million people!
Occitan
This one is also a Romance language, like Galician, Spanish, and Catalan.
Among these native languages, Occitan is one of the more endangered ones, at least within Spain. Less and less people speaking it as time goes on.
Even so, it’s actually pretty widespread, going beyond northern Spain into southern France and even some parts of Italy!
Asturian
Finally, Asturian is yet another Romance language that developed out of Latin.
It’s been on the decline for quite a while, but efforts are being made to revitalize it.
It’s mainly found in Asturias, a province in northwestern Spain, but is still spoken by only a small population there.
Arabic
It’s nowhere near as widespread as it used to be, but if you know anything about Spanish history, you’ll know why Arabic is on this list.
For nearly 700 years of Spain’s history, a large chunk of the country, mainly the southern half, was Muslim, specifically occupied by the Moors. This came after a large invasion which included the conquest of cities like Toledo.
So, from the late 700s to the 1400s, Arabs controlled much of Spain until the Reconquista.
There’s still a lot of evidence of this history, especially in southern Spain, where you’re most likely to encounter the language. You’ll also see quite a bit of Arabic or Arabic-influenced architecture!
Other Languages in Spain
There are so many other languages in Spain that I would never be able to list them all.
Suffice it to say that most European languages are present somewhere in Spain (with a surprising amount of Romanian).
There are also a few languages from places Spain occupied at one point or another, or from nearby African countries, but these are in very small numbers.
Conclusion: A Quick Review
That was a lot of information. I’ll distill it down to the most important details here:
- You’ll find Spanish nearly anywhere in the country. This should be your go-to for communication.
- The further you get from central Spain, the more likely you are to encounter non-Spanish languages.
- English is not very common. Still, you’ll probably find it in the tourism sector most commonly.
- There are quite a few native languages in Spain, though you might not encounter them easily.
- Arabic, while present, will not be common enough to be useful outside of a few areas.
Thank you for reading! I hope this was entertaining, or at least informative! If you see any issues or have questions, comments, or concerns, don’t hesitate to let me know down below or contact me directly!
