Talk:Spanish language

Spanish in Philippines

Given that Spanish holds constitutional recognition in the Philippines, it would be appropriate to reflect this in the Quick Facts dropdown. I suggest creating a new category within the infobox to properly display this information. A similar approach has already been taken on the Arabic language Wikipedia page, as Arabic also enjoys constitutional recognition in the Philippines.

On another note, considering the unique role and constitutional recognition of Spanish in the Philippines, it may be worth reflecting this on the language map. While it shouldn’t be shaded the same as countries where Spanish is currently official, perhaps a distinct color or pattern (e.g., stripes) could be used to denote its significance. Alexigj (talk) 23:19, 2 April 2025 (UTC)

As a Filipino and Spanish speaker, I agree. We should just shade the entire country of the Philippines as the lightest blue that there is to denote "cultural significance". It's enshrined in the constitution that Spanish is a voluntary language to use all over the country, and we speak words of it every day. With a movement of youth rediscovering Spanish, as well as Spanish being the most popular taught foreign language in schools, it really plays an importance to our country, history, and identity.

If Ladino Sephardic Jews can hold on to their culture, then why can't we Filipinos do the same? If Belizeans can have their country shaded light blue, then the Philippines should definitely have it shaded as well!

And if no one will do it, then I will! DavaoDude (talk) 23:15, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Already done! I can't wait on people to debate on something so obvious.

We have the Real Academia and the IC just how Spain has them too. Why the eF were we still not represented? Yeah... changed that! It's time for the world to REALLY see the global power of this language in this day and age. No more ignorance from the Hispanophone world of just Europe and Latin America. We exist too, and don't get me started with Spanish in the Pacific... DavaoDude (talk) 23:54, 7 March 2026 (UTC)

Only 4,584 speakers in Philippines in 2024 (page 52 of the PDF)?! I understand that 117 million people live in the Philippines, which is approximately 0.004% of the country population. The Cervantes Institute, by the way, is quite something when it presents these kinds of statistics. It doesn't even deserve to be shown in blue on the map. Taichi (talk) 19:54, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Taichi, with all due respect you're being disingenuous with the numbers you're touting around. There are 4,584 native speakers of Spanish in the Philippines in the IC report, and even then they actually caveat that they use INE and embassy registration data which does not fully represent the number of Spanish speakers out there in the country. The IC's numbers, in fact, do not fully reflect the extent to which Spanish is spoken in the Philippines, precisely because numbers are hard to come by due to a variety of factors which I even tried to explain in the Philippine Spanish article.

That said, I must also point out here that I don't appreciate how you and other non-Filipino Spanish-speaking Wikipedians have tried time and again to minimize Spanish-speaking Filipinos as some anomaly that doesn't deserve to have even a minimally meaningful presence on Wikipedia. May I remind you that we can't even call things the way we call them because you don't want us to. There are still Spanish-speaking Filipinos out there, whether you like it or not, and we deserve meaningful representation too. This has been one of my biggest gripes with the Spanish Wikipedia community as one of the few Spanish-speaking Filipinos contributing to the project, as if you have any right to dictate to us what we can speak and what we can't speak.

While I sympathize with DavaoDude's frustration as a fellow Spanish-speaking Filipino, I was actually perfectly fine with the previous consensus of reflecting the Philippines with a dot, even if I actually wanted the entire country colored in. You unilaterally changed the key to remove the "cultural language" designator without seeking proper consensus when I, Moalli, Salvabl and others have already agreed – even if I wasn't happy with the final consensus – to how the Philippines should be represented on the relevant map and in the infobox back in 2023-2024. To that end, I will be reverting your changes to the previously-agreed upon version (and the previous map too, as I think the changes were poorly made), and if you really think the Philippines shouldn't be there at all, then convince us. Whether it be on the Spanish Wikipedia or here, I and others remain unconvinced. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 10:52, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

I will only respond to the second paragraph because you are simply revealing your frustration with the Spanish Wikipedia (which is irrelevant to this topic). You are trying to reduce to zero a valid reference from one of the main institutions of the Spanish language. I doubt the institution included that figure for mere amusement, and you, as a Filipino, must surely be extremely frustrated. That is a fact, and there is no greater refutation than personal opinion.

But what I cannot allow is for you to project your frustration with the Spanish Wikipedia onto me, especially regarding "how you and other non-Filipino Spanish-speaking Wikipedians have tried time..." I am basing this on information I found myself; no one commissioned me or met with anyone to do this, so stop generalizing.

But it is even more disappointing that, based on your authority as a sysop, you pressure and co-opt the discussion, reducing the matter to "I, as a Filipino, have more authority than what the Cervantes Institute source says." I'm not going to engage in an ego battle. I repeat: if you have a problem with the Spanish Wikipedia, I invite you to take it elsewhere. Vent your Filipino nationalist grievances there, but don't pretend you can raise a flag here and have anyone who dares to refute you resort to the refrain of "this is the fault of non-Filipino Spanish speakers." This is a general encyclopedia, not a nationalist one.

And it's good that you agree with the other user, because on the Spanish Wikipedia he even threatened death for not accepting his ideas. I can see the level of standards you consider acceptable. I won't continue this debate. Taichi (talk) 13:11, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

First off, nowhere did I suggest that the IC's data is invalid, because it is valid. However, the IC's own footnotes specifically state that they're counting Spanish citizens in the Philippines, plus numbers from the other embassies whose citizens are registered with them. There's a reason why numbers from various sources are cited because merely relying on a single source is incomplete. That doesn't make the data any less invalid, but let's not distort the numbers to fit your narrative. You're the one touting the IC's numbers as proof that there are only ~4,000 Spanish speakers in the Philippines, and we should leave it at that, when the data shows there are more when you also start counting second-language speakers, which you're discounting entirely. My personal opinion doesn't matter here. (Also, please. I know enough so-called "Hispanistas" who want to exaggerate the numbers even when the evidence shows that at most, only around half a million speak the language fluently. If you think I'm one of them, you're sorely mistaken.)

Second, I use admin rights on the English Wikipedia extremely rarely, and not once in the years I've been involved in discussions on Wikipedia about this topic, or any other topic for that matter, have I even used that as so-called "leverage" to get what I want. If I did, the Philippines should be fully colored in, but consensus dictated that a colored dot is sufficient and I accepted that consensus because that was what was decided on, even if I disagreed with it. If you want to change the consensus to remove the Philippines entirely, you're more than welcome to do so. I will disagree with it, but if that's what people ultimately decide, who am I to say no?

Finally, sympathy does not equal agreement. I don't agree with the other user threatening death to anyone on the Spanish Wikipedia (and, in fact, I didn't know they did that until you brought it up here) because that's morally reprehensible and shouldn't happen in any circumstance, but I can nevertheless sympathize with the frustration he shares because I am in enough Spanish-speaking Filipino circles to know that this sentiment is something that is not isolated to a couple of people. But don't you dare claim I agree with killing people as a sentiment. Not once did I say that nor agree with that.

I actually find it amusing that you're claiming this is a "Filipino nationalist" thing: actual Filipino nationalists actually believe the exact opposite of what you're implying. Actual Filipino nationalists actually claim Spanish was never spoken in the Philippines and is dead, full stop. I'd recommend you read into the literature before you start throwing ideas out there. In any instance, with all due respect you're NOT engaging in good faith. You're more than welcome to not engage any further as that's your right, but I encourage you to reflect. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 13:54, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

It's fine @Taichi You can keep spreading the lies that you want. It's such a shame that you refuse to see past other cultures besides Latin America and Spain.

While @Sky Harbor and I will continue to spread awareness and continue to respect our country's rich Hispanic culture - even richer than Panama's tainted Hispanic culture with more Yankee influence than ours, we will continue to promote Philippine Spanish at all costs. In other Wikipedia pages too.

We will not argue with a Panamanian who cannot understand the loss of indigenous cultures as Panama doesn't have any left anyway to cherish thanks to the Spanish.

It feels great to disrespect and deny other cultures doesn't it? Just remember, Philippine Spanish and the Real Academia de Filipinas exists - and WE EXIST. We will continue to exist! Continue to act like the colonisers who threw away your indigenous culture, because we will always exist. DavaoDude (talk) 16:11, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

@Taichi - I will alway be make the change to remove "culturally important" on the map because if it is culturally importantm, then the Philippines MUST be included. Why else would our 170+ languages and the Real Academia and Chavacano exist?

But, it's okay - you will never understand that because your culture has been erased. DavaoDude (talk) 16:14, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

Okay, enough. Let's not resort to personal attacks, please. I have disagreements with Taichi on both here and the Spanish Wikipedia as much as you do, and I don't like that he put words in my mouth, but let's not get carried away here. You can disagree with the action, but responding through personal attacks is unwarranted and unhelpful. This is Wikipedia, after all, and we must always respect other Wikipedians first, even those who we disagree with. (I have yet to check what was actually said on the Spanish Wikipedia, but making death threats isn't going to help your case either. If you actually did make them, then you rightfully deserve to be called out for them.)

I don't know enough about the history of Panama to be able to make any sort of judgement about indigenous history there, but I cannot countenance any attacks made in the name of Filipino Hispanism towards any country. It's wrong and, as I've said earlier, unhelpful. If you really want to sell people on the worth of Philippine Spanish, the use of our terminology on Wikipedia, etc., then please engage with them in good faith. We are better than that.

Just to be clear: so-called "Hispanistas" on Wikipedia need to cool their horses while on the project, and I won't hesitate to take action against people who distort Wikipedia content to inflate things (or minimize things) beyond what's covered in reliable sources. I already have to deal with someone persistently editing Spanish people of Filipino ancestry to inflate Hispanic influence, when the source material doesn't engage with that topic at all. I don't want to have to deal with this one either. Taichi was wrong to unilaterally change the map and the map legend in the infobox without seeking consensus, but if you're going to insult your way into changing the consensus back, then I'm sorry, but you're in the wrong too. Let's take the time to cool the conversation down so that cooler heads prevail, shall we? --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 16:29, 22 March 2026 (UTC)

Significant minority

Why is "Significant minority" a thing? This shouldn't be on the infobox. Beshogur (talk) 14:43, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Why shouldn't it be? It's hard to discuss this with you if you keep your argument for it a secret. 😉 Largoplazo (talk) 15:24, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

@Largoplazo: why should it be? What's next, putting significant minority to every other language? What's significant minority. No official status. Beshogur (talk) 23:01, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Not sure why this is an issue, but perhaps the solution is to drop minority from the label, and make it just Significant language. Spanish is quite significant in Belize and Gibraltar, and not minority according to figures reported, while just barely minority in Andorra. Minority in (most locales of) the U.S, but definitely a significant presence in some areas. The purpose of an encyclopedia is to inform, and the strong presence of Spanish in Belize, Gibraltar, Andorra and some of the U.S. seems to me useful information. Barefoot through the chollas (talk) 02:50, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

It's listed on the official languages. There shouldn't be "significant minority/language" on the infobox. There is a separate minotiry language section there. Beshogur (talk) 11:49, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Btw in case someone want to revert me, see Template:Infobox language: nation: list of countries in which it is an official language. Beshogur (talk) 13:14, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Only thing closest to official is New Mexico, but the state has not an official language including English. Beshogur (talk) 20:28, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

I'm aware -- and I'm guessing Largoplazo is, too -- of the status of Spanish in the countries in question, including constituent parts of countries such as New Mexico. Sharing that awareness with curious readers is a good thing, IMO. Barefoot through the chollas (talk) 20:57, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

I added New Mexico. Though it has no de jure language, Argentina is also listed here without having a de jure language. Beshogur (talk) 22:10, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

The original reason to delete the significant minority list apparently is that "this is listed on the official language parameter. if there is no official status, it should be removed." However, Spanish is not official in several Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas, and similarly English is not official for instance in the USA or the UK. So I strongly disagree with the reasoning to delete the list. --Jotamar (talk) 22:05, 17 September 2025 (UTC)

The simplest solution might be to just delete Official from the heading of that section. Not an ideal solution, but one that leaves room for listing both officialdom and not. Barefoot through the chollas (talk) 16:47, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

No that section is for official languages. For that there is "states" which isn't present in this infobox. Beshogur (talk) 22:44, 25 September 2025 (UTC)

Why? De facto official language of a country vs "significant minority" is different. Is Spanish official in Andorra? No. So it doesn't matter if a language is spoken by 1/3 of a country's population. Beshogur (talk) 22:47, 25 September 2025 (UTC)

Actually, it matters very much to the people who live there and to those who consult an encyclopedia article for accurate information. (The previous re "that section is for official languages" etc. is circular.) Barefoot through the chollas (talk) 14:55, 26 September 2025 (UTC)

That's what the infobox template says. Beshogur (talk) 22:41, 26 September 2025 (UTC)

How much Spanish vocabulary cmoes from Latin - mistake!

Hello, You write in one passage that 75% Spanish vocabulary comes from Latin and then in the vocabulary passage on your Spanish language site you write that it is actually 85%. I think the latter number is correct and if you want to be considered reliable, please correct you r mistake (75%). ~2025-32879-81 (talk) 22:36, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

• What do the sources say? Because there is no "you" here. Drmies (talk) 22:37, 11 November 2025 (UTC)
• Problem solved. Thanks, Drmies (talk) 22:42, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

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Redundant introduction

Spanish (español) or Castilian (castellano) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It originated in the Kingdom of Castile, a kingdom in north-central Iberia.

which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century,[10] and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo, a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile

The lead is redundant. Particularly the It originated in the Kingdom of Castile, a kingdom in north-central Iberia bit, other than bringing the north-central element and the Kingdom of Castile name drop a bit earlier is awfully redundant with the opening statement and the later historical introduction. Should if were removed we would lose nothing meaningful in the lead because any bit of information it is already contained in other parts of the lead. Asqueladd (talk) 20:35, 1 October 2026 (UTC)