At a glance Home About the charter Press releases Publications Secretariat/contact    The charter Text of the charter Signatures and ratifications Declarations and reservations State parties Languages covered    Monitoring About monitoring Secretary General's reports NGOs / minority associations    Committee of  Experts About the Committee A word from the Chair Members of the Committee    Documents State reports Evaluation reports Committee of Ministers' recommendations    Events Calendar    Restricted Access Restricted Access Reset password

Council of Europe publishes report on minority languages in Spain

10.12.2008 The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has today made public the second report on the situation of minority languages in Spain. This report has been drawn up by a committee of independent experts which monitors the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

On the basis of the report, the Committee of Ministers calls on Spain to improve the use of regional or minority languages amongst judicial staff and in the State administration offices. Further efforts are needed to protect Asturian, and specific legislation should be adopted for the Aragonese and Catalan languages in Aragon. The Spanish authorities are also encouraged to clarify the status of Galician in Castile and León, Portuguese in the town of Olivenza, Berber in the Autonomous City of Melilla and Arabic in the Autonomous City of Ceuta, and take appropriate steps to protect these languages in co-operation with the speakers.

The full text of the report and the Committee of Ministers’ recommendations can be downloaded from the Charter's website: http://www.coe.int/minlang ("Documents" section).

Further information can also be found on the Charter's website, or by contacting the Charter Secretariat (minlang.secretariat@coe.int – Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 31 86).