Different regions in Spain

I have heard that many areas of Spain have their own languages that are all variations on Spanish. Is this a problem when traveling and trying to speak to everyone?

Hi Jill,

I am currently living in Spain so I can give you my perspective on it. I lived in Madrid for two years and there the “madrileños” – people from Madrid, speak Castilleno (Spanish). If you go up into the north, into the Basque country they have Basque which is very different (blended with French I believe) and so if you go into the Basque country you might find it more difficult to communicate. I have never been there so I can’t speak about that from first hand experience.

I now currently live in Huleva (on the southern coast) and they speak castilleno here BUT they have a very different accent from “madrileños”. My boyfriend is from Huelva and when we speak he speaks very clearly and I can understand him perfectly. When we go out with his friends and they get talking…their words blend together and they drop their “s” (third person and plural) and use different words or expressions than people do in Madrid.

For example: More or less in Spanish is Mas o menos…but in Huleva they say Ma o meno (thats how it sounds cause they don’t say their "s").

So in general to answer your question I don’t think you would have any problem speaking to people if you have basic or higher Spanish. Initially I traveled around Spain for three months (Madrid, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, Valencia, Barcelona, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Cadiz (Southern accent…VERY strong), Huelva) and I didn’t have any problems related to this. My problem was just having basic Spanish.

Hope that helps!

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Interesting point Diana – I ran into the same situation in Germany with all of it’s dialects and I’ve been told we have the same issues here in the US, we just don’t realize it. A friend of mine from Mexico said I speak Calfornian and it’s not the same as Southern US or New Yorker! She says it’s more than just accents and idioms but those subtleties you mentioned (dropping s’s).

Makes it interesting!

There are 4 official languages in Spain: Gallego, Castellano, Catalan, and Basque. When looking at the language history all of these are separate romance languages (except Basque) of the same age as French, Italian, and Portuguese. So, they are not considered dialects. You will not have trouble unless you get into a small pueblo somewhere, but even then they will understand Spanish for the most part. When I visited my friends’ family in Galicia their mom was so rusty with her Castellano that she needed them to translate most of the time. But, that is super rare. In Catalunya many people will not want to speak Castellano but they will if they must. A lot of young children won’t know Castellano until they get older, but they will still understand just fine.

Galicia is situated north of Portugal and it is like a blend of Castellano and Portugues. Catalan is situated along the border of France and likewise is very Frenchlike. They are even starting to use Merci for instead of gracies because they want to seem more like France than Spain. (long rivalry with Madrid) The Basque language is it’s own. There are no known links to other languages from what I remember. It is not a romance language at all, but they will all speak castellano. Well at least I never met anyone that didn’t. :)

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around anything beyond Spain = Spanish, Germany = German. I guess my lack of travels would have a lot to do with it. I find it so fascinating that there are so many variations throughout the different regions.

Yes, it’s the same in Italy. Some dialects are far more than just different ‘accents’. My father comes from Liguria in northern Italy and their dialect IS a different language!

Many years ago a couple of my Dad’s brothers came to England and we all went to see the British Grand Prix (auto racing). Whilst we were in the Grandstand my Dad and his brothers were all talking in their dialect. After about an hour, a Italian guy sitting behind them said something like:
"ok, I’ve been trying to figure out what your language is for the last hour… "! lol Then they switched to Italian!

Very much like Spain in that way. :)

Very interesting indeed! Thanks Marco, for the education!

And I’n struggling with just Baja California, Mexico Spanish…You guys are too good! :)