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- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
length of occupation, the Moorish language never
actually outpaced Latin. Christians living under Arab
rule did develop Mozarabic, a vernacular Latin with an
Arab dialect, but it hasn’t survived.
Spain’s other main languages
Modern Spain has three official minority languages:
Galician (Galego), Catalan (Catalá) and Basque
(Euskera). Under Franco they were effectively banned,
suppressed amid the quest for a sole, national identity.
But many people maintained their native tongue at
home and with devolution in the early 1980s all
three languages surfaced in rude health. Each has its
newspapers andTV channels, is taught in schools
and used in the respective regional parliament.
Catalan. Closer to the dwindling Occitan of southern France than Castilian
(although not vastly different from either), Catalan is spoken by six million
people in Catalonia alone, where it’s the language of daily life. Versions are
also spoken in Valencia and the Balearics. Castilian speakers in the region
complain of legislation that panders to the local tongue, while some Catalan
speakers feel the laws don’t go far enough.
Galician.Thought to be the forebear of Portuguese, and thus similar in
tone, the language of north-west Spain isn’t hugely different to Castilian.
Typically, Galician survived in isolated, poor communities. Like Catalan, the
language has enjoyed a renaissance since Galicia gained relative autonomy.
Around three million, most of the Galician population, now use it as their
primary language.
Basque. In contrast to Catalan and Galician, Basque, of foggy origin, is
nothing like Castilian. Littered with Ks, Zs and Xs, the language’s million
or so disciples lap from the Basque Country into Navarre and France.
Proportionally, fewer speak it as a first language than do Catalan or Galician.
While few outside the region have the dedication to learn it, the self-
confidence of Basque identity ensures the language survives.
Two northern languages
struggling to be heard
In the Spanish Pyrenees
around 10,000 people
still speak Aragonese,
a Romance language
similar to Castilian,
as a first language.
Further west, in Asturias,
approximately 100,000
still use Bable, another
Latin-based tongue.
