Spanish is the primary language spoken in Spain (Imagine that!). However, something not a lot of people realize is that there are various dialects of Spanish spoken across Spain. Think of it as someone from Britain who knows English, visiting Texas. They speak the same language, but it still may be difficult to translate!

Spanish is a romance language, meaning it has original ties to the roman empire. Other romance languages include French, Italian, and Portuguese. As you can see, Catalan is spoken on the east coast, while Galician is spoken in the north west. Basque is spoken in the north-central areas of the country.

In Madrid, they speak Castilian Spanish, which is the most widespread dialect. 99% of Spanish speakers in Spain speak Castilian as either a first or second language (Speakeasybcn.com, 2019). Hallmarks of Castilian Spanish include saying th instead of c or z. An example of this would be cooked fish, spelled pescado. In Latin America, this would be pronounced pes-ka-do. In Spain, however, it breaks down like pes-tha-o. It can be fun to say!

Hudec Speakeasy Community Manager, D. (2019). The differences between Spanish in Spain and Latin America. Retrieved April 03, 2021, from https://www.speakeasybcn.com/en/blog/the-differences-between-spanish-in-spain-and-latin-america Languages of Spain. (2021, March 09). Retrieved April 03, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Spain