A friend of mine just returned from a five week trip to Spain. She reported that she had great difficulty communicating since not everyone spoke Spanish. According to her, folks in Barcelona and Bilbao only spoke Catalan or Euskara. Is that possible?? I didn't have any trouble the last time I was in Barcelona, but that was some 6 years ago. Have things changed that much?

No, all catalans and vascos can speak also Spanish, well, at least almost all, and they usually are kind enough to speak to you in Spanish(this has been my personal experience in Cataluña and Navarra, haven't been in the Basque country yet, although I have some friends from there).

Maybe there could be some foreigners or inmigrants that cannot do it, or he had bad luck, I don't know. Anyway, catalan it's not so difficult to understand.

The only time someone has refused to speak Castellano with me was in Barcelona. I was trying to buy some keyrings from a stall on the Ramblas, however it turned out to be a stall set up by the Catalan Independance Party so I reckon its understandable why he only spoke to me in Catalan.

I was concerned about not being able to communicate in Euskera when I visited Bilbao but I had no problem on 2-or-3 visits. Euskadi People may speak Euskera among themselves but if they are in a commercial enterprise I found that they would answer Castellano with the same. At a small restaurant in Vigo I encountered the same thing with Galego.

The problem with gallego is that some times people change from one language to the other unconsciusly.

I would have thought that anyone over 30 would most certainly speak castellano given they couldn't speak anything else while Franco was in power. Since then,however, have schools stopped teaching castellano? My friend claims in Barcelona they had a rough time finding a policeman who could speak castellano! Her husband had he wallet stolen and went to the policestation in the hopes of reporting it. She claims the policemen were gathered around and asked who among them spoke Spanish (none could) but one offered to speak English!!! I am totally baffled!

Maestra:

Under Franco, people certainly could and did speak Catalan and Euskera. It was even possible after the initial phase of the dictatorship to publish books in these languages. What was not possible was to teach them in the state schools or to use them in government. People learned these languages at home and there were also private language academies.

Today, education in these areas is technically bilingual, but Catalan (with a healthy dose of Spanish loan words thrown in) is definitely dominant in Barcelona and most of Catalunya in everyday life. Euskera is less dominant in the Basque cities, politics aside. I have never encountered any Catalans who could not speak Spanish, but have certainly known plenty who would rather not. Even these more linguistically nationalistic Catalans are usually more forgiving of foreigners who can only speak Spanish than of other Spaniards. It seems really weird that a cop could not speak Spanish.

I was recently in Galicia, and defintely noticed that people tend to move unconsciously from Gallego to Spanish. For me, at least, it was fairly easy to understand (since I speak Spanish and am studying Portuguese).

Around Bilbao most things are done in Spanish, but it can vary by neighborhood or town. What kind of accent does your friend have in Spanish? I´ve heard of people who are prejudiced against people from other regions in Spain, could they have confused her for a spaniard?. It really does sound strange that they refused to speak to her in Spanish in Bilbao. They generally like foreigners and are happy that they are taking an interest in their city.

My friend's husband did the talking. He studied Spanish here in the States and a bit in Mexico. She thinks he sounds "pretty good," I haven't heard him. I don't think anyone would have mistaken either of them for Spaniards though!

hey everybody

Do asturians still speak bable?

Oh and yes the gallegos do change galego for spanish and vice a versa. It could sound wierd to many outsiders. It doesnt happen all the time though.