The languages of Spain ( es, lenguas de España), or Spanish languages ( es, lenguas españolas, link=no), are the languages spoken in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Most languages spoken in Spain belong to the Romance language family, of which Spanish is the only language which has official status for the whole country. Various other languages have co-official or recognised status in specific territories, and a number of unofficial languages and dialects are spoken in certain localities.

Present-day languages

In terms of the number of speakers and dominance, the most prominent of the languages of Spain is Spanish (Castilian), spoken by about 99% of Spaniards as a first or second language. According to a 2019

Pew Research The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the wor ...

survey, the most commonly spoken languages at home other than Spanish were

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

in 8% of households, Valencian 4%, Galician 3% and Basque in 1% of homes. Distribution of the regional co-official languages in Spain: *

Aranese Aranese ( oc, aranés) is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in northwestern Catalonia close to the Spanish border with France, where it is one of the three official languages ...

, a variety of

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

co-official in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. It is spoken in the Pyrenean comarca of the Aran Valley (''Val d'Aran''), in north-western

. It is a variety of Gascon, a southwestern dialect of the

Occitan language Occitan (; oc, occitan, link=no ), also known as ''lenga d'òc'' (; french: langue d'oc) by its native speakers, and sometimes also referred to as ''Provençal'', is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Ital ...

. * Basque, co-official in the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

and northern

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

(see '' Basque-speaking zone''). Basque is the only non-

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European languages, I ...

(as well as non-

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

) with an official status in mainland Spain. *

, co-official in Catalonia and in the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

. It is recognised but not official in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

, in the area of '' La Franja''. Outside of Spain, it is the official language of

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

; it is also spoken in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

department in southernmost France, and in the city of Alghero on the island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, where it's co-official with Italian. * Valencian (variety of Catalan), co-official in the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

. Not all areas of the Valencian Community, however, are historically Valencian-speaking, particularly the western side. It is also spoken without official recognition in the area of Carche, Murcia. * Galician, co-official in Galicia and recognised, but not official, in the adjacent western parts of the Principality of Asturias (as Galician-Asturian) and

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

. Spanish is official throughout the country; the rest of these languages have legal and co-official status in their respective communities and (except Aranese) 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. A number of citizens in these areas consider their regional language as their primary language and Spanish as secondary. In addition to these, there are a number of seriously endangered and recognised minority languages: * Aragonese, recognised, but not official, in

. * Asturian, recognised, but not official, in Asturias. Part of the

Asturleonese language Asturleonese ( ast, Asturlleonés; es, Asturleonés; pt, Asturo-leonês; mwl, Asturlhionés) is a Romance language spoken primarily in northwestern Spain, namely in the historical regions and Spain's modern-day autonomous communities of Asturi ...

along Leonese and others. * Leonese, recognised, but not official, in

. Spoken in the provinces of León and Zamora. Part of the Asturleonese language along Asturian and others. Spanish itself also has distinct dialects. For example, the

Andalusian Andalusia is a region in Spain. Andalusian may also refer to: Animals *Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken *Andalusian donkey, breed of donkey *Andalusian hemipode, a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds *Andalusian horse, a breed of ho ...

Canarian Canary Islanders, or Canarians ( es, canarios), are a Romance people and ethnic group. They reside on the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain near the coast of northwest Africa, and descend from a mixture of European settlers and abor ...

dialects, each with their own subvarieties, some of them being partially closer to the Spanish of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, 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 The Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola) or FALA was the armed wing of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), a prominent political faction during the Angolan Civil ...

(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 San Martín de Trevejo ( fax, Sa Martín de Trevellu) is a municipality ( ''municipio'') located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2008 census (INE), the municipality has inhabitants. The local linguisti ...

Eljas Eljas ( fax, Ellas or ') is a municipality ( ''municipio'') located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2008 census (INE), the municipality has inhabitants. The local linguistic variety is the so-called Fal ...

and

Valverde del Fresno Valverde del Fresno ( ext, Valverdi el Fresnu, fax, Valverdi du Fresnu) is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 2576 inhabitants. The loc ...

); 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 {{Infobox language , name = Benasquese , nativename = ''benasqués, patués'' , pronunciation = , states = Aragon, Spain , region = Ribagorza, Campo, Estadilla, Graus , speakers = 1,000–2,000 , date=no date , re ...

, 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 The Mirandese language ( mwl, mirandés, links=no or ''lhéngua mirandesa''; pt, mirandês or ) is an Astur-Leonese language or language variety that is sparsely spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal in Terra de Miranda (made up of th ...

which is spoken on an adjacent territory but over the border into

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Mirandese is recognised and has some local official status. Portuguese has been traditionally spoken by the inhabitants of the following border areas:

Cedillo Cedillo is a town and municipality in Spain, located in the province of Cáceres, community of Extremadura. According to the 2008 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 518 inhabitants. Languages The town is close to the border wit ...

and Herrera de Alcántara (province of Cáceres),

La Alamedilla La Alamedilla is a town and municipality in Spain, in the province of Salamanca, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It has a population of 209 inhabitants. The town is close to the border with Portugal, and the traditional local di ...

(province of Salamanca, primarily spoken in the place up until the mid-20th century), and

Olivenza Olivenza () or Olivença () is a town in southwestern Spain, near the Portuguese border, on a historically disputed section of the Portugal–Spain border. Its territory is administered by Spain as a municipality belonging to the province of Bad ...

(province of Badajoz). With the exception of Basque, which appears to be a

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...

, all of the languages present in mainland Spain are

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

, specifically

Romance languages The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...

Afro-Asiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

, such as

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

(including Ceuta Darija) or

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

(mainly Riffian), are spoken by the Muslim population of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

and

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

and by recent immigrants (mainly from Morocco) elsewhere.

Past languages

In addition to the languages which continue to be spoken in Spain to the present day, other languages which have been spoken within what are now the borders of Spain include: Linguistic map Southwestern Europe

* Tartessian language *

Iberian language The Iberian language was the language of an indigenous western European people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian Peninsula in the pre-Migration Era (before about 375 AD). The a ...

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...

** Celtiberian language **

Gallaecian language Gallaecian, or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic, is an extinct Celtic language of a Hispano-Celtic group. It was spoken by the Gallaeci at the beginning of the 1st millennium in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula that became the Roman ...

* Lusitanian language *

Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite language of the Northwest Semitic branch of the Semitic languages. An offshoot of the Phoenician language of coastal We ...

Latin language Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

Guanche language Guanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the conquest of the Canary Islands as the Guanche ethnic group was assimilated into the dominant Spanish cultur ...

Galician-Portuguese Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian languages, West Iberian Romance languag ...

Gothic language Gothic is an extinct East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the ''Codex Argenteus'', a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizeable text cor ...

* Vandalic language *

Frankish language Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century. After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul, its speakers in Picardy and ...

** Andalusi Arabic **

Classical Arabic Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...

Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encomp ...

* Mozarabic languages *

Romani language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...

Languages that are now chiefly spoken outside Spain but which have roots in Spain are: *

Judeo-Catalan Judaeo-Catalan ( he, קטלאנית יהודית; ca, judeocatalà, ), also called Catalanic or Qatalanit ( he, קאטאלנית; ca, catalànic or '), was a presumed Jewish language spoken by the Jews in Northern Catalonia and what is today ...

, though the existence of this language has been questioned. * Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)

Variants

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

Barallete Barallete is a largely vanished argot which used to be employed by the traditional knife-sharpeners and umbrella-repairers (''afiadores e paragüeiros'') of the Galician province of Ourense, in Spain. It was based on the Galician language as ...

Bron Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France. Geography Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side. Climat ...

* Caló *

Cheli Cheli is a Spanish-language juvenile sociolect or jargon diatopically restricted to the Madrid area, developed in the 1970s, primarily associated to the post-Francoist counterculture. It drew influence from the hampa and drug-dealing jargons, an ...

Erromintxela Erromintxela () is the distinctive language of a group of Romani living in the Basque Country, who also go by the name Erromintxela. It is sometimes called ''Basque Caló'' or ''Errumantxela'' Matras, Y. ''A Linguistic Introduction'' Cambridge ...

* Fala dos arxinas *

Gacería Extension of the Gacería in the province of Segovia Gacería is the name of a slang or argot employed by the (or makers of the , or threshing-board, as well as threshing-sledge) and the (or makers of : metathesis of Spanish word sieve) in ...

Germanía Germanía () is the Spanish term for the argot used by criminals or in jails in Spain during 16th and 17th centuries. Its purpose is to keep outsiders out of the conversation. The ultimate origin of the word is the Latin word , through Catalan ( ...

Xíriga Xíriga is an occupation-related cant on Asturian developed by the ''tejeros'' of Llanes and Ribadesella in Asturias. The ''tejeros'' were migrant workers in brick or clay, usually poor, who contracted themselves out for work sometimes in distan ...

Further information

* Aragonese (''aragonés'') *

Astur-Leonese Asturleonese ( ast, Asturlleonés; es, Asturleonés; pt, Asturo-leonês; mwl, Asturlhionés) is a Romance language spoken primarily in northwestern Spain, namely in the historical regions and Spain's modern-day autonomous communities of Asturi ...

** Asturian (''asturianu, bable'') ** Leonese (''llionés'') **

(''mirandés, lhéngua mirandesa'') ** Extremaduran (''estremeñu'') ** Cantabrian (''cántabru, montañés'') * Basque (''euskara'') *

(''català''), known as Valencian (''valencià'') in the

* Galician (''galego'') ** Eonavian (eonaviego) **

(xalimego) * Gascon (

dialect) **

(''aranés'') * Spanish (''español'') **

Judaeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew script: , Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance languages, Romance language derived from Old Spanish language, Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain ...

(''djudeo-espanyol'', ''judezmo'', ''ladino'', ''sefardi'', etc.) **Dialects of Spanish in Spain ***

Andalusian Spanish The Andalusian dialects of Spanish ( es, andaluz, , ) are spoken in Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla, and Gibraltar. They include perhaps the most distinct of the southern variants of peninsular Spanish, differing in many respects from northern varietie ...

(see also

Andalusian language movement Andalusian is a dialect of Spanish spoken in Andalusia, Spain. However, a recent fringe movement has aimed at the differentiation of Andalusian from Spanish and at its standardization. Several groups and organizations have emerged attempting to ...

) *** Canarian Spanish ***

Extremaduran Spanish Extremaduran may refer to: *Something related to Extremadura, an autonomous community in western Spain, including: :* The Extremaduran language, a language spoken in Northwestern areas of Extremadura :* Castúo, The Extremaduran dialect of Spanish, ...

(''castúo'') ***

Murcian Spanish Murcian (endonym: ) is a variant of Peninsular Spanish, spoken mainly in the autonomous community of Murcia and the adjacent ''comarcas'' of Vega Baja del Segura and Alto Vinalopó in the province of Alicante (Valencia), the corridor of Alman ...

Sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

s **

Spanish Sign Language Spanish Sign Language ( es, Lengua de Signos Española, LSE) is a sign language used mainly by deaf people in Spain and the people who live with them. Although there are not many reliable statistics, it is estimated that there are over 100,000 s ...

(''lengua de signos española'', LSE). **

Catalan Sign Language Catalan Sign Language ( ca, Llengua de signes catalana, LSC; ) is a sign language used by around 18,000 people in different areas of Spain including Barcelona and Catalonia. As of 2012, the Catalan Federation for the Deaf estimates 25,000 LSC sig ...

(''llengua de signes catalana'', LSC) and

Valencian Sign Language Valencian Sign Language ( ca-valencia, Llengua de signes valenciana ), or LSV,Also abbreviated as LSCV (for ''Llengua de signes de la Comunitat Valenciana'') and LSPV (for ''Llengua de signes del País Valencià'') is a sign language used by deaf ...

(''llengua de signes valenciana'', LSV). *

Language politics in Francoist Spain During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975, policies were implemented in an attempt to increase the dominance of the Spanish language, also known as Castilian, over the other languages of Spain. Franco's regime had Spanish n ...

References

External links