Spain Culture & Language

Spain has one national language and three others that are co-official in their own regions: Catalan, Galician and Basque, the last unrelated to any other living language. They are the everyday language of millions of people, not heritage curiosities.

The daily timetable is the thing visitors notice first. Lunch runs from around two, dinner rarely starts before nine, and an evening out begins when much of Europe is finishing. The habit is real; the tourist idea of a national siesta is largely not.

Flamenco is Andalusian rather than Spanish, born of Romá, Moorish and Andalusian traditions and recognised by UNESCO in 2010. Holy Week processions in the south, and regional festivals from the Fallas to San Fermín, are the largest cultural events of the year.

Bullfighting remains legally protected as cultural heritage nationally, banned in Catalonia and the Canaries, and contested everywhere — it is not a settled national pastime.

Castilian Spanish is official nationwide. Catalan, Galician and Basque are co-official in their regions, where you will see bilingual signage and hear both languages daily.

English is widely spoken in tourist areas and much less so elsewhere — noticeably less than in northern Europe. A little Spanish goes a long way, and a greeting before asking a question is expected. In Catalonia and the Basque country, an attempt at the local language is appreciated well out of proportion to its accuracy.