For those of us (read: me) who pay attention to these things, there was quite an important piece of news that came out in October.
The Instituto Gallego de Estadística (IGE) reported that more people in Galicia now speak Spanish as their main language than Galician. About 30% of residents always speak Spanish, while only around 24% stick to Galician—a flip from 2018 when the numbers were the other way around and Galician led the way.
The shift away from Gallego is especially noticeable among younger children: the report found that a third of children aged 5 to 14 know “little or nothing” of Galician. On the other hand, older generations—like those 65 and up—are much more likely to speak only Galician. There’s also a drop in how many people can understand and speak Galician fluently. In 2018, over 72% of people said they understood it well, but now it’s down to about 65%. Fewer people feel comfortable speaking Gallego, especially young people.
All of this points to the idea that Galician isn’t being passed down as strongly as before or spoken as much. This is pretty concerning for me as someone who made the effort to become fluent in Galician and views the language as intimately linked with Galicia’s idiosyncratic culture and its wines.
The Galician government (Xunta) under the People’s Party (PP) has done an abysmal job at promoting future generations of Galician speakers. For example, though the education system is mostly bilingual Spanish-Gallego with teachers given the freedom to use either language, it’s illegal to teach math and science in Galician. The logic behind this is that Spanish is seen as the “language of learning” but what it really does is perpetuate an old idea that Galician should be limited to a down-home language of culture, better for speaking to the cows than speaking about them.
The Xunta’s bilingualism policies are doing nothing to boost Galician in everyday life. It’s already a minority language, and that’s not changing. But instead of protecting it, they’re letting it slowly fade away. Galicia could lose an important part of its identity.
So why should you, dear reader, care?
For one, the Galician language is part of the cultural ecosystem that also encompasses the region’s wine. The fight to cherish and revitalize Galician is a fight for the entirety of Galicia, from its music and literature to its food and wine. All are expressions of Galicia’s soul.
Also, the life or death of the Galician language isn’t limited to Galicia—it’s about cultural diversity in general. We don’t just use languages to communicate, but to convey shared history, culture, and identity. When a language dies, an entire perspective on the world dies with it. We live in a hyper-globalized world, but we all watch the same shit on Netflix and drink the same five Instagrammable wines. Although we’re more connected than ever, it sometimes seems to me that the world is becoming more homogenized than anything else. The opportunity to protect a language that contributes to global linguistic diversity doesn’t come about every day.
Which brings me to the point of all this: even if you don’t speak Galician, there are plenty of ways you can help support the language and its preservation. Like listening to music! Enjoying and sharing Galician music is a cool way to keep the language alive and visible. Also, a lot of it slaps. Plus, it’s a way to pick up new words and get a feel for the sounds of Galician so you might recognize when someone is speaking it on your next trip there.
Here are six Galician artists you should listen to:
1. Tanxugueiras – they were robbed of the chance to represent Spain at Eurovision 2022 and I will die on this hill! Aida Tarrío, Olaia Maneiro, and Sabela Maneiro combine traditional Galician folk and modern beats.
2. Mercedes Peón – a pioneering musician known for blending trad musical instruments like the gaita (bagpipes) with electronic and experimental sounds. Galician ska, you say? And so much more.
3. Os Resentidos – a pioneering 1980s rock band that blended punk rock and Galician folk to address themes of Galician identity, language, and politics.
4. Baiuca – producer and artist Alejandro Guillán, aka Baiuca, established a new idea of musical fusion that has become a reference point within Spain and internationally. How else would Timmy Trumpet play a recording of traditional Galician songs at a German festival for thousands of people?
5. Xabier Díaz – one of the big names in Galician roots music. He was part of the legendary group Berrogüetto (whose music you should also listen to) from 2008 to 2014, and has since come out with a few solo albums.
6. Carlos Núñez – The unofficial seventh member of the Chieftains and a giant in the world of Celtic music. His 1996 album A irmandade das estrelas marked the coming of age of “world music” in Spain and features musicians like the Chieftains and Ry Cooder.