Language Planning in the Spanish-Speaking World

Abstract

This paper reviews in detail the diffusion and promotion of the Spanish language, from the first settlement of the Spanish colonisers in the Americas to the present day. The first sections deal with the establishment and development of Spanish in the Hispanic American colonies. Subsequent sections describe the situation of Spanish within Spain as a form of internal colonisation, and trace its development from the time of the colonisation of the Americas, reviewing language policies undertaken by the various political systems through the years. The co-existence of Spanish with the rest of the nation's languages is described, both before and after Franco's regime (1939–1975), when a consistent internal language policy was developed for the first time in the country's history. The present-day institutional efforts for maintaining language co-existence within the different autonomous communities, as well as for promoting Spanish abroad are also analysed.