Current:Home > FinanceSpain allows lawmakers to speak Catalan, Basque and Galician languages in Parliament-InfoLens
Spain allows lawmakers to speak Catalan, Basque and Galician languages in Parliament
View Date:2024-12-23 16:38:57
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Parliament allowed its national legislators to use the country’s minority languages of Catalan, Basque and Galician for the first time on Tuesday.
The reform of the linguistic policy of Spain’s lower chamber was a demand of Catalan separatist parties to support the appointment of a Socialist as the new Parliamentary Speaker last month following inconclusive national elections in July.
The right to speak languages other than Spanish in the national Parliament is a long-held objective of smaller parties from the regions in Spain’s north that have bilingual populations.
"(This change is) ... to normalize something that is already common for citizens who speak a language other than Spanish,” said Socialist Party member José Ramón Besteiro, who alternated between Galician and Spanish to become the first lawmaker to take advantage of the modification.
The Parliament provided simultaneous translation with earpieces for the 350 members of the chamber as well as for the nationally televised transmission of the session.
The conservative opposition was against the reform, saying it would make debating more difficult.
Spain’s government is also trying to have Catalan, Basque and Galician recognized as languages that can be used in the European Union.
This support of Spain’s minority languages comes as acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is hoping to cobble together the backing from nationalist and even separatist parties from Catalonia and the Basque Country to form a new left-wing government.
Catalan is spoken by around nine million people in Spain’s northeast, its Balearic Islands, as well as a small population in France. Galician is spoken by some two million people in northwestern Spain, while Basque has 750,000 speakers in Spain’s Basque Country and Navarra regions.
Spanish is also known as “castellano” or “Castilian” in Spain for its origins in the Kingdom of Castile. It is spoken throughout the country of 47 million people, including the regions where minority tongues survive.
Spain’s 1978 Constitution recognizes its minority languages as co-official along with Spanish in regions where they are spoken. Their use is common in regional parliaments and town halls.
veryGood! (811)
Related
- Patrick Mahomes Breaks Silence on Frustrating Robbery Amid Ongoing Investigation
- Stellantis lays off about 400 salaried workers to handle uncertainty in electric vehicle transition
- Georgia lawmakers advance bills targeting immigrant-friendly policies
- Lawrence County Superintendent Robbie Fletcher selected as Kentucky’s next education commissioner
- Olivia Culpo Celebrates Christian McCaffrey's NFL Comeback Alongside Mother-in-Law
- A Nashville guide for those brought here by Beyoncé: Visit these Music City gems
- I Shop Fashion for a Living, and These Are My Top Picks From Saks Fifth Avenue's Friends & Family Sale
- Dominic Purcell Shares Video of Tish and Brandi Cyrus Amid Rumored Family Drama
- When do new 'Yellowstone' episodes come out? Here's the Season 5, Part 2 episode schedule
- With organic fields next door, conventional farms dial up the pesticide use, study finds
Ranking
- 'Heretic' spoilers! Hugh Grant spills on his horror villain's fears and fate
- Requiring ugly images of smoking’s harm on cigarettes won’t breach First Amendment, court says
- Land purchases by Chinese ‘agents’ would be limited under Georgia bill; Democrats say it’s racist
- More than 440,000 Starbucks mugs recalled after reports of injuries from overheating and breakage
- NFL power rankings Week 11: Steelers, Eagles enjoying stealthy rises
- Can’t Fall Asleep? This Cooling Body Pillow Is Only $28 During Amazon’s Big Spring Sale
- Tennessee just became the first state to protect musicians and other artists against AI
- How one group is helping New York City students reverse pandemic learning loss
Recommendation
-
Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 11
-
Reports attach Margot Robbie to new 'Sims' movie: Here's what we know
-
Texas, South see population gains among fastest-growing counties; Western states slow
-
State Farm discontinuing 72,000 home policies in California in latest blow to state insurance market
-
Larry Hobbs, who guided AP’s coverage of Florida news for decades, has died at 83
-
2024 Masters: Tigers Woods is a massive underdog as golf world closes in on Augusta
-
FAFSA delays prompt California lawmakers to extend deadline for student financial aid applications
-
Stellantis recalls nearly 285,000 cars to replace side air bags that can explode and hurl shrapnel