More than 20 million people speak or know Spanish in Brazil, nine percent of the population

The Diplomat More than 20 million people speak or know Spanish in Brazil, representing nine percent of the country's population, a figure that could exceed ten percent if current students of the language were included. This is according to the study "Brazil as a Spanish-speaking territory: A microlinguistic analysis," published by the Global Observatory of Spanish of the Cervantes Institute and presented this Sunday, September 6, within the framework of the São Paulo Book Biennial. The report, prepared by Francisco Moreno Fernández and Héctor Álvarez Mella, offers a microlinguistic analysis of the presence of Spanish in the world's largest Portuguese-speaking country. Using data from the 2022 census and demographic, migratory, and educational sources, the publication studies both native speakers and those with limited proficiency in the language. The results show that the presence of Spanish in Brazil is “more intense and widespread” than reflected in previous estimates. The study identifies approximately 1.84 million native speakers and more than 20.19 million with limited proficiency. The latter are primarily former pre-university students and residents of the border region. The study—presented during the event titled “Spanish and Portuguese: Languages Embracing, Cultures in Conversation,” in which the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, participated—also highlights the role of immigration in shaping Spanish in Brazil. Within the native-speaking group, it counts 1.3 million non-naturalized Spanish-speaking residents and 141,000 naturalized Brazilians. These figures are in addition to speakers by family heritage (descendants of couples with at least one Spanish-speaking partner) and Brazilians with ties to border regions. Brazil borders seven Spanish-speaking countries and shares with them the world's largest linguistic border. In this vast region, approximately three million Brazilians can know and use Spanish with varying degrees of proficiency. “Contact between the two languages is part of daily life in education, work, services, and cross-border trade,” the report notes. Furthermore, the publication emphasizes that this reality is not uniform: the highest concentrations of potential speakers are located in the southern states, border areas, and large cities. Education is another key factor in explaining the presence of Spanish in Brazil. After more than a decade of its inclusion in secondary education, the report estimates that 16.6 million former students retain some level of Spanish proficiency. Among its recommendations, the report proposes strengthening the availability of Spanish in secondary education, promoting a national teacher training plan, and expanding the Border Intercultural Schools Program. It also recommends improving educational records and incorporating linguistic questions into national surveys to gain a more precise understanding of the social uses of languages. The study concludes that Spanish cannot be considered solely a foreign or immigrant language in Brazil. “Its educational, social, and border roots make it a relevant dimension of the country’s linguistic reality that must be addressed in its educational, social, and cultural policies,” it states.

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