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Local Spain
16-05-2025
- General
- Local Spain
Why do they speak 'perfect' Spanish in Valladolid?
It has long been said that that the people in the Castilla y León city of Valladolid speak the most 'perfect' castellano (how Spanish in the whole of Spain. Recently, the mayor of Valladolid Francisco Javier León de la Riva reiterated this when he said that Valladolid is the place in the world where the "purest" Spanish is spoken. The premise for this is vallisoletano Spanish is the most representative of the standard Spanish favoured by the Real Academia Española (RAE), Spain's official language academy. Is there any truth to this, is there such a thing as a more official Spanish? Firstly it's important to distinguish between language and accent. One is referring to grammar and sentence construction, as opposed to how the people pronounce certain words, but of course different regions in Spain use slightly different grammar and phrases anyway. Often a different construction comes with a different accent, but most of the time when Spaniards refer to the best or most 'perfect' Spanish, they're usually referring to the clarity and accuracy with which words are pronounced, something that's usually determined by accent. According to Inés Fernández Ordóñez from the RAE, if it were necessary to determine the linguistic variety that most closely approximates to standard Spanish, Valladolid would not actually be her choice, but rather Soria, also in Castilla y León or Guadalajara in Castilla–La Mancha. So where did the claim that Valladolid's Spanish is the best originate? The current director of the RAE, José Manuel Blecua, has repeatedly stated that the 'perfect Spanish' is a "myth" which comes from the reference made by the Frenchwoman Madame D'Aulnoy in her book Viaje por España (Journey through Spain), written in the 17th century. The people from Madrid (Madrileños) often boast that they speak the best Spanish too. Other linguistic experts say that the best Spanish is spoken between La Rioja and Burgos, because it best conforms to the standards dictated by the RAE. This includes Burgos, Palencia, Salamanca, and Valladolid. Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) also conducted its own study and discovered that the best Spanish is spoken in Cantabria and Asturias. They claim that in Cantabria, 98.2 percent of citizens speak Spanish perfectly, while in Asturias the figure rises to 98.4 percent. So who is correct? All of them to a degree. Generally, the most quintessential Spanish is considered to be from the northern and central regions. This is because Castilian, which foreigners know as Spanish, began as a dialect spoken in northern Spain. It became language of the court of the kingdoms of Castilla y León in the 12th century and then when Spain was unified in 1479, it became the language used by the whole country. Other areas of Spain had their own language up until that point and today they still do, such as Catalan spoken in Catalonia, Euskera in the Basque Country and Galician in Galicia. For many of these people Spanish or castellano is actually a second language or second mother tongue. Many foreigners still choose to study Spanish in the region of Castilla y León, and there are many language schools and prestigious universities there, but you'll find Spanish language learners all over the country. If there is an advantage that the northern half of Spain does have over the southern regions is that the people here have a very clear neutral accent, so it's a lot easier for foreigners to understand. They don't have the ceceo (pronouncing a 'th' for an 's', 'c' and 'z', which sounds like a lisp but is not) sound like some places in Andalusia, or the seseo (using the the 's' sound in place of 'z' and 'c') like the in the Canaries do – similar to those from Latin American countries such as Venezuela or Cuba. Spain's national stats body did conclude that the two places where the 'worst' Spanish is spoken are Murcia (southeastern Spain) and Melilla (one of two Spanish city regions in northern Africa). Murcianos are renowned for having the hardest accent to understand and are often mocked for it, so keeping in mind that the claim is a partly based on a survey where people were asked about their own linguistic abilities, it could be that respondents from Murcia were slightly self-deprecating. The truth is that while those in Valladolid and the north do speak very clear and grammatically correct Spanish, there is no one correct answer of who speaks the best or the most perfect Castilian. All the different ways of speaking Spanish in Spain and the accompanying accents are special in their own way and that's one of the aspects that makes Spain so interesting is its linguistic variety. Keeping in mind that the vast majority of the 600+ million Spanish speakers in the world are in Latin America, and they may also have something to say about what constitutes the 'best' castellano.
Local Spain
01-04-2025
- General
- Local Spain
Spanish Word of the Day: Extranjero
Spanish Word of the Day For Members If you're reading The Local Spain, the chances are that you're an 'extranjero' or 'extranjera'. Extranjero or extranjera mean foreigner in Spanish, the former being masculine and the latter feminine. The word can be a noun (a male foreigner is un extranjero and a female foreigner is una extranjera). It can also be used as a noun to refer to 'overseas' or 'abroad', always in the masculine form el extranjero, such as Juan se ha ido al extranjero, 'Juan has gone overseas'. Extranjero/a can also be the adjective for the word 'foreign' (la prensa extranjera is the foreign press, or el turismo extranjero is foreign tourism). You may also hear Spaniards say de origen extranjero (of foreign origin) or that someone has un acento extranjero (a foreign accent). Extranjero doesn't have any negative connotations in Spanish, unlike the word guiri which can be derogatory depending on how it's used. It also applies to all foreigners, unlike guiri which tends to refer to foreigners from northern European countries. Synonyms of extranjero include foráneo or forastero, which do bear more resemblance to the English word 'foreigner' and 'foreign' but tend to be used far less in Spanish. In fact, you're only likely to hear forastero in Western movies to refer to someone who's an outsider or stranger. According to Spain's Royal Academy of Language (RAE), the word extranjero derives from the Old French word estrangier (now étranger) to refer to 'one who is or comes from a country of another sovereignty'. Another related word is extranjería, a useful term for foreigners in Spain to know as it refers to the foreigners' office in Spain. There's also extranjerismo, which can refer to a foreign word, phrase or custom, a foreignism. Then there's the colloquial expression de extranjis, which means 'on the down low' or 'secretly'. Examples: Los extranjeros están comprando muchas viviendas en España. Foreigners are buying a lot of property in Spain. If you want to find better career opportunities, you have to go abroad. Tengo que ir a extranjería a tramitar mi tarjeta de residencia. I have to go to the foreigners' office to process my residency card. More #Spanish Word of the Day See Also
BBC News
27-01-2025
- General
- BBC News
WW2 museum in Thurleigh appeals for urgent repair funds
Urgent repairs are needed to conserve and repair a military museum that was created to commemorate the US servicemen who were based there during World War 306th Bombardment Group Museum, a former ammunition storage building, in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, was opened in Stants, a volunteer, said it houses artefacts and belongings of the group "to keep the memories of those that served" from 1942 to 1945. He said the building needed new front doors, new fascias and guttering repairs - and the heating system required an overhaul. Mr Stants said the building was constructed in the "early 1940s, in the middle of World War Two". "It's on an old airfield, which is open to the elements, and over the past few years with all the wet weather we've had, we've stated to notice things that need upgrading and repairing," he aded that it was hoping to raise £2,500, and had already reached £1,100, which was "phenomenal". It is based at Bedford Autodrome, the former home of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Stants said families of the veterans regularly came over to visit from the United States."We want to give them a place that they know, that they can retrace their families footsteps and were we are there to support that," he added that the repairs would "keep it going and keep the memories of those that served there". The 306th Bombardment group arrived from the Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA, in September 1942 and went on to lead the first USSAF daylight bomb raid over Germany on 27 completed 341 combat missions, the second highest flown in the Eighth Air Force and the first bomb group in the Eighth Army to complete 300 missions. At its height, the airbase was home to about 3,000 Stants said their presence would have created a "large long-lasting impact on Thurleigh and this area of [north] Bedfordshire, it's really important that we can spread the message of what happened there". On 26 April, 1944, nine members of the 306th Bombardment Group were killed shortly after they took off from the airfield. After experiencing an engine fire, the plane came down in nearby Bletsoe. Only the tail gunner, George Littlefield, survived. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
