The School Sociolinguistic Map of Santiago de Compostela

Language, Mobility and Territory

Abstract

The main demolinguistic surveys conducted in recent decades show that the number of Galician speakers is decreasing. The language shift from Galician to Spanish should be understood as a complex, multifaceted, interconnected and unpredictable process, where different dimensions are dynamically intertwined. One of the dimensions to be addressed is related to the demographic and socio-economic reconfiguration in Galicia, which has affected the distribution of languages in the territory. These transformations are linked to the ageing of the population, urbanization (and resulting de-ruralization) and the tertiarization of the economy. In 2025, the generational continuity of the Galician language is now being hampered by certain social, demographic and sociolinguistic indicators.

In this context, the educational system becomes a key space for observing the dynamics of linguistic displacement or maintenance, since it is where the processes of socialization, public policies and family practices converge. The case of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia’s administrative capital and a major university city, offers a particularly relevant scenario for sociolinguistic analysis, both because of the diversity of its school network (public, private and subsidized) and because of its urban structure and the residential and educational mobility by which it is defined.

This article discusses the results of the School Sociolinguistic Map of Santiago de Compostela, an investigation that combines sociolinguistic and sociodemographic data collected from teachers, students and families in the primary, secondary and post-secondary educational sector in the city. Inspired by previous studies such as the Ames School sociolinguistic Map, the project seeks to identify the factors that have structured the distribution of the population in the school environment of Santiago de Compostela, with particular focus on the use and presence of the two official languages. The analysis presented here examines in particular the relationships between language, mobility and territory. The final objective is to integrate this knowledge on the sociolinguistic dynamics of the city council on the basis of a critical and situated reading, which will enable us to rethink formal and informal educational language policies.