Languages spoken in Spain

As an aficionado of Spanish language, I admit to being a rookie when it comes knowledge of  regional languages in Spain.  Most of my experience stems from México.  For that reason, I was interested in what Skype friend Laura sent me about the subject, in anticipation of a visit we might make to Spain next January.    

Languages spoken in Spain

In Spain the official language is Castellano or Spanish, as it is internationally called, but several regions have their own local language. Although in the majority of them you will find schools offering courses of Spanish to foreigners, in everydaylife, streets and shops you might listen people speak more their local language than Spanish.

That is the case of Cataluña, where Catalán is commonly used in everydaylife. In Valencia (at the east of Spain) the local language is Valenciano. Is similar to Catalán, although people living in Valencia don’t like to hear that. Maybe in shops, bars and in the streets of Valencia and its region you won’t hear as many people speaking the local language as it happens in Catalonia with Catalán.

In Galicia, at the northwest of Spain, they speak Gallego, and I think it is more and more used in everyday life, because when they interview people from Galicia on TV in Spanish they often answer in Gallego.

Finally in el País Vasco (at the north of Spain) the local language is Euskera. Unlike the other local languages, Euskera is very different from Spanish so it is not possible to understand if you haven’t studied it. I think in big cities of el País Vasco you won’t hear it very often in everyday life, as it is very difficult even for them.

But don’t worry, because in all of those regions they will usually talk to you in Spanish as soon as they realize you come from another country. The only thing is that if you want to hear Spanish all the time, then is better to chose as destiny Madrid, Castilla-León, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalucía, Murcia, Extremadura and The Canary Islands.