The Languages of Spain: Castilian, Catalan, and Galician
The Languages of Spain
Castilian
Spain is a multilingual country where Castilian, Catalan, and Galician are spoken. The Spanish language, also known as Castilian, originated in Cantabria and became the language of the entire Spanish territory due to the Reconquista.
In the 17th century, Castilian became a prominent language of culture, and during the Golden Age of Spanish literature, its greatest writers reached their historic peak.
The consolidation of Castilian continued until the modern era. In the 18th century, the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language was created, which remains the most important institution regarding the Spanish language.
Catalan
The Catalan language originated in the Kingdom of Aragon. Developing alongside Castilian, it became clearly distinct from Castilian in the late 10th century.
In the 12th century, Catalan gained relevance, and between the 12th and 14th centuries, it experienced its greatest expansion. By the end of the 14th century, Catalan was one of the most widely spoken languages in Europe.
However, the increasing importance of Castilian during the 16th and 17th centuries led to a gradual decline of Catalan. This decline ended with the cultural movement known as the Renaixença, which revived Catalan literature and normalized its use.
The 20th century brought linguistic repression after the Spanish Civil War under Franco’s regime. However, with the arrival of democracy and the new constitution, Catalan regained protection, was revitalized, and was established as an official language alongside Castilian in Catalonia.
Galician
In the Kingdom of Galicia, Galician initially emerged as a unified language with Portuguese.
Galicia soon became part of the Kingdom of Castile, and when Portugal gained independence from the crown, the two languages, which shared a common origin, diverged.
In the 15th century, the Catholic Monarchs subdued the Galician nobility, who had resisted their royal power. As a parallel linguistic phenomenon, the Spanish language gained prominence, to the point that by the second decade of the 16th century, written expressions of Galician had disappeared. This marked the beginning of the Dark Ages of the Galician language.
The Rexurdimento movement, spearheaded by Rosalía de Castro and her book “Folhas Novas,” helped reposition Galician in the realm of culture and literature.
However, the true resurgence of Galician literature did not occur until the end of the Franco era in the 1960s and has continued gradually since then.