Observatory of Spanish in Europe
If you could speak three languages immediately, which would you choose?
Take part in our short survey on language and multilingualism. We want to find out which languages people consider important, how different languages are valued, and how multilingualism is perceived.
Observatory of Spanish in Europe | OSE
The Observatory of Spanish in Europe is a research center founded in 2023 at Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies (HCIAS), Heidelberg University. Its main goal is to offer data that can help tackle the emerging trends related to Spanish and its speakers in Europe.
News
New publication: La política de lenguas extranjeras en Ucrania ante la integración europea: la posición del español
The paper “La política de lenguas extranjeras en Ucrania ante la integración europea: la posición del español”, by Mariam-Sofiia Shamsutdynova, has been published in the Working Papers series of the Observatory of Spanish in Europe.
The article examines the position of Spanish within Ukraine’s language and education policy amid European integration and institutional efforts to promote foreign language learning. Drawing on legislative measures, education system data, and survey results, it explores the growing prominence of English, changes in Spanish language enrolment, and the challenges facing the promotion of other European languages.
Read the full paper here.
Prof. Dr. Óscar Loureda delivers a seminar El español como lengua de herencia en Europa
On Friday, 9 October, Prof. Dr. Óscar Loureda, Director of the Observatory of Spanish in Europe (OSE), gave a seminar “El español como lengua de herencia en Europa” as part of the Master’s programme La enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera at the University of Salamanca (USAL), Spain.
New publication: El español en Portugal. Dinámicas migratorias y educativas
The paper “El español en Portugal. Dinámicas migratorias y educativas”, by José María Santos Rovira and Celso Miguel Serrano Lucas, has been published in the Working Papers series of the Observatory of Spanish in Europe.
The paper updates the demolinguistic characterization of Spanish in Portugal for the period 2020–2026 and analyzes the evolution of Spanish-speaking immigration, the acquisition of Portuguese nationality, the Spanish heritage-speaking community, and the presence of Spanish in the education system.
Read the full paper here.
Inaugural Lecture: Comunicación, cognición y pragmática experimental
Prof. Dr Óscar Loureda Lamas delivered the lecture Comunicación, cognición y pragmática experimental at the “Inaugural Conference of the Master’s Programmes in the Department of Translation and Language Sciences,” on 28 September 2026.
In his talk, he addressed the mental processes involved in communication and discourse from the perspective of experimental linguistics. Particular attention was paid to evidence obtained through different experimental techniques and to three areas: discourse construction, processing by different types of speakers—L1, L2 and heritage speakers—and the media and social reproduction of ideas and beliefs.
Discover some of the research work by the ComCog group:
Recent publications
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Awarded the first Prize for International Hispanism
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