The Grand Final of the Triathlon World Series will be held in a territory with its own language – Galician – where Castilian (Spanish) is also the official language. As it is an international event, these two languages are complemented by English. It is therefore a trilingual race, which symbolizes cultural diversity and respect for the territory that hosts the event.
Tríatlon (Gallician), triatlón (Spanish) and triathlon (English) are three key words in this sport. Each of them is written in a similar, but different way. If in Galician the letter i is accented, in Spanish, the o, and English may not use accents, but this word incorporates a letter h, to form the phoneme th, so characteristic of that language.
This word in the three official languages of the championship sums up the inclusive and multicultural philosophy, which will be amplified on the days of the competition with the multitude of languages and accents that will converge in the city. Galician predominates local communication, Spanish is the language of choice for the Spanish Triathlon Federation and more global messages are promoted in English, aimed, above all, at athletes and people who accompany them.
Little English is spoken
Spanish, along with Galician, is commonly used in Pontevedra. Its global importance as an international language explains why many people living in Spain do not use the English language, which can be strange for those who come from other countries. This happens especially in territories which are less pressured by tourism to speak English, such as Galicia or in general the entire north and center of the peninsula (except in the most touristic cities).
Galician, Galicia’s own language
The Galician language is a variant of Latin that shares some characteristics with Portuguese, a country to which Galicia (the historic nationality to which Pontevedra belongs) is closely linked by historical, social and human ties. Since the 15th century, when it was annexed to the Kingdom of Spain, the two languages have evolved seperately and are now considered two different languages with common linguistic roots.
During the Middle Ages, Galician was one of the great languages of Europe, which testifies to the important literary legacy of that time.
When Castile (Spain) began to administer the ancient kingdom of Galicia, they used only Castilian in the Administration, Court and Church, while the people spoke Galician. During the 19th century that reality began to change, thanks to the intellectual movements that began to fight for the official status of the Galician language.
After a period of glory in the first third of the 20th century, the Franco dictatorship banned the use of Galician, which was then again legally recovered in the late 1970s.
Today, it has official status and people who come to Galicia can see that its use is common both in public administration and in numerous useful services to citizens.
Four official languages
In Spain there are four official languages: Spanish (official throughout the country); Catalan in Catalonia with its own variants in the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands; Basque in the Basque Country and the Community of Navarre and Galician in Galicia.
Castilian, Catalan and Galician come from Latin, and Basque is a language of unknown origin – it may be the oldest in Europe, predating Latin – which is also used in the French Basque Country.
These four languages are complemented by Portuguese, the official language of Portugal, which together with Spain completes the Iberian Peninsula and some Atlantic archipelagos integrated into extracontinental Europe.
Other recognized languages also exist, such as Bable in Asturias or Aragonese, in Aragon, in addition to the numerous dialectal variants of Spanish.
