Article 3 The Spanish Constitution recognizes that the richness of the different linguistic modalities of Spain is a cultural heritage that will be subject to special respect and protection, while establishing that Spanish is the official language of the State and that all Spaniards have the duty to know it and the right to use it.

On the other hand, this same article indicates that the other Spanish languages may also be official in the Autonomous Communities according to their respective Statutes. This is a constitutional provision that has been assumed in the Statute of the Basque Country, with respect to the Basque language; in Catalonia, with respect to Catalan and Occitan/Aranese; in Galicia, with respect to Galician; in the Valencian Community, with respect to Valencian; in Navarre, with respect to Basque in the geographical area delimited in the corresponding Law; and in the Balearic Islands, with respect to Catalan.

To address this special Spanish characteristic, with a cultural and social reality in which a high percentage of inhabitants reside in territories where more than one language is spoken, both the Autonomous Communities and the General Administration of the State carry out their activity in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. That is, promoting the respect and protection of Spanish linguistic plurality and guaranteeing the rights of its speakers, and this as an element that generates cultural, social and economic wealth.

To make this policy effective, the General Administration of the State has a body, the Council of Official Languages, created by Royal Decree 798/2025, "for the analysis, promotion and technical coordination of the General Administration of the State in relation to the use of official languages, with the objective of achieving the best compliance with the legal requirements derived from the Spanish Constitution, the statutes of autonomy and the rest of the current and applicable regulations in the matter, as well as the international agreements assumed by Spain in the field of official languages and the consequent linguistic rights of citizens in the General Administration of the State."

In this process of promotion and protection, Spain has ratified the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, promoted within the framework of the Council of Europe, which means its participation in an evaluation process through the provision of periodic reports to monitor and verify compliance with the commitments made with its ratification.