Basic information on the spoken languages and the educational system:

Spanish

Spanish, also known as Castilian, is a Romance language spoken by more than 250 million persons in Spain and North and South America. The earliest written materials in Spanish, in the form of glosses on Latin texts, date from the 10th century, and works of literature in Spanish first appeared c. 1150.

Modern standard Spanish developed from a dialect that arose in the 9th century around the town of Burgos, in north central Spain (Old Castile), and, as Spain was reconquered from the Moors, spread southward to central Spain (New Castile) around Madrid and Toledo by the 11th century. In the late 15th century Castilian became the official language of all Spain.

In Spanish the case system of Latin has been completely lost except for subject and object forms for pronouns. Nouns are marked for masculine or feminine gender, and plurals are marked by the addition of ‑s or ‑es; adjectives change endings to agree with nouns. The verb system is complex but by and large regular.

Catalan

Catalan is spoken in four Autonomous Communities (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencia and part of Aragon). According to the 1996 census, 95% of the population of Catalonia understands Catalan, and about 79% can speak it. In relation to the Balearic Islands and Valencia, the source of data available is the 1991 census which indicates that 89% of the population on the Balearic Islands understands Catalan and 67% speaks it, and that 74% of the population of Valencia understands Catalan and nearly 50% also speaks it. The 1983 Language Act stipulates that Catalan should be the normal language of education at all levels. However, if the language of the home is Castillian, children may receive the first years of their education in that language.

Galician

Galician is spoken in the autonomous community of Galicia (provinces of Coruna, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra), as well as in the Asturias/Galicia and Castilla-Leon/Galicia border regions. According to the 1991 census, 91% of the 2.753.000 inhabitants of the autonomous community of Galicia understand Galician, and 84% also speak it. However, the same census also indicates that only 48% use the language all the time. Of the 90.000 people living in the Asturias/Galicia and Castilla-Leon/Galicia border regions, about 45% normally express themselves in Galician. According to the language act, Galician is the official language of all educational institutions. It stipulates that at pre-primary level and during the first two years of primary school the mother tongue of the pupils (either Galician or Castilian) should be used as the teaching medium. From the ages of 8 to 14 pupils should be taught through Castilian, with Galician being taught as a subject and used as a teaching medium in at least one subject. At present, all primary schools teach the language as a subject, but only 67% of the schools also use it as a teaching medium for one subject. The 1983 Act specifies further that at secondary level, the language be taught as a subject and used as a teaching medium in two other subjects. At present, nearly all secondary schools teach Galician as a subject, but only 30% also teach two other subjects through the language.

Basque

Basque, or Euskara, is a non-Indo-European isolate language. Numerous theories have arisen to account for its ancestry, but none has proved satisfactory. The area where Basque has traditionally been spoken is called Euskal Herria, the Basque Country. This name is now applied to an area comprising seven historical provinces, four in Spain and three in France. The total population of the Spanish Basque Country was 2.6 million in 1991. About a quarter of the population (some  600 thousand) claim to be competent in Basque, in addition to Spanish. That proportion is now gradually rising, a change which is due both to increasing levels of intergenerational transmission within the familiy and to the spread of Basque as a second language among Spaniards form monolingual Spanish families. Language examinations, however, suggest that full written competence is much more modest. All schools in the Basque Country teach Basque in one way or another, varying between the use of the language as a medium of instruction and Castilian being taught as a subject (12 to 15% of pupils in 1990), both languages being used as mediums of instruction (18 to 20% of pupils) and the use of Castilian as a medium of instruction and Basque being taught as a subject (65 to 70% of pupils).

Aragonese

Aragonese is spoken in a few Pyrenean valleys. It is estimated that about 30.000 people are able to speak and understand the language. Despite efforts made by several bodies the language has not yet been included in the school curriculum, not even as a subject. It is only taught in some schools in a very small number of towns as voluntary extra-curricular subject.

Asturian

Asturian is spoken throughout the Principality of Asturies, except for the area bordering Galicia.  Asturian is also spoken in the North and West of the Province of Leon, but there is no official cooperation between the Asturian and Leonese regional governments as regards language promotion. According to a 1991 government survey, about 450.000 people speak the language (= 44,4%). At present, the language is optionally used in pre-primary,  primary and seconday schools as a subject and as a medium of instruction. It is available as an option in the teacher-training colleges and at the University of Oviedo/Uvièdu. The language is also taught to adults.

Occitan

Occitan is spoken in Val d=Aran, a Pyrenean valley on the French-Spanish border, which is an administrative part of Catalonia. The language of Val d=Aran is a variant of Gascon, the language of Gascony (one of the three main varieties of Occitan). Occitan is the language of instruction during the first few years. Spanish and Catalan taking leading roles later (in principle each language represents a thrid each). At the end of the school cycle, however. Spanish is the majority language and Occitan is taught as a subject only.

Eurostat surveys showed that 17% of the population can take part in a conversation in English.

On 01-09-95 Spain has ratified the European Framework Convention of National Minorities.

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