Spain is a country in Europe, located on the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, Spain is actually 17 autonomous regions, each having its own geography and its own culture. The capital of Spain in Madrid, home to the Royal Palace.

The Official Language of Spain

The official national language of Spain is Spanish, also known as Castilian or Castilian Spanish. The Spanish language spoken in Spain is almost the same as that spoken in Latin America. The accent is the main difference, and there are slight differences in grammar usage and vocabulary.

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Other Significant Languages Spoken in Spain

Spain has a unique system whereby each of its regions was allowed to elect a co-language: six regions have chosen to take up this option.

Catalan: Catalonia and the Balearic Islands have the Catalan language, which is the most widely spoken of Spain’s minority languages. Some people speak Valencian, which is seen by many as a dialect of Catalan. Approximately 7 million people speak Catalan/Valencia.

Basque: The Basque Country and Navarra have the Basque language, which is a rather complex language. It’s often called the most unique language in Europe.

Galician: Many people speak Galician in Galicia; a variant of this language known as Eonavian is spoken in Asturias. Around 3 million people speak this language. Of the three regional languages in Spain this is the closest to Spanish. The Portuguese language was actually derived from the Galician language.

Spain’s Lesser-Known Languages

Aranese is an official language in north-west Catalonia, in Val d’Aran, although in the rest of Catalonia it’s not recognised. Aranese is a dialect of Gascon, which itself is a variant of Occitan.

Valencian is acknowledged as a separate language in Valencia, although most authorities recognise it as a dialect of Catalan.

Asturian and a variant known as Leonese are languages understood to a small extent in the Asturias and Leon regions, however, they’re now considered dead languages.

Aragonese is spoken in the province of Huesca and around the Aragon River in Aragon.

Extremaduran is spoken in a region to the south-west of Madrid known as Extremadura; as is Fala - a variant of the Portuguese language.

And finally, in Spain there are large immigrant communities of Arabic and English speakers. It’s estimated that there are 1 million native English speakers in Spain, making the English language as widely spoken as the Basque language in Spain. In fact, there are parts of Andalusia where road signs appear in English, and in Almeria some signs are in Arabic!