Minorcan identity and a wealth of languages
As in Catalonia and the Basque Country, the question of Balearic identity is the subject of much debate. In fact, it is closely linked to language. Since the Balearic Islands became an autonomous community, Catalan has been the official language of the archipelago, along with Castilian (Spanish): in fact, it is a co-official language, according to the terms used in the legal texts. The majority of islanders claim to understand Catalan, but around 30% do not speak it. In reality, the use of Catalan is limited to political institutions. State schools are supposed to offer teaching in both languages from nursery school onwards, which would make it easier to find a job in Catalonia, or to continue university studies on the mainland. But once again, the reality is different: in schools, Castilian is the majority language in the classroom, and local dialects(menorquí in Menorca, mallorquí in Mallorca, eivissenc in Ibiza) are mainly spoken in the playground. The latter have even become symbols of nationalism for the older generation.
However, from 2013 onwards, this official model was threatened by the José Ramón Bauzá (PP) government's reform of the education system, which proposed a trilingual Catalan-Castilian-English system, reducing Catalan hours in favor of English. Despite its annulment by the Supreme Court in 2014, this reform has been the subject of much debate. Today, however, the two languages have regained a certain balance in schools.
As a result of the island's highly-developed tourist industry and its history (which remained under English rule for almost 100 years), some foreign languages (especially English) are widely spoken, particularly in the towns. On Menorca, however, Catalan remains the most widely spoken language (as it is on Formentera), where it remains a linguistic mainstay, with 73% of the population knowing how to speak it and almost 90% understanding it. While the island retains a traditional identity cradled in centuries-old habits and customs, the population has changed dramatically in recent years.
Minorca's foreigners
Menorca is home to a large number of emigrants, working and/or living on the island all or part of the year. In total, according to demographic data from the 2022 census (Statistical Institute of the Balearic Islands), 11,400 foreigners ( forasters, for foreigners in the local language) live on Menorca, divided into 110 nationalities! Nearly half of them (5,500) come from the European Union, a good quarter (3,000) from South America and 15% (1,700) from Africa. If we go into a little more detail, we can see that with over 2,000 British nationals, they continue to top the list of foreign residents in Menorca. It's worth noting, however, that this population has been declining over the past 10 years (in 2012, they accounted for just under 20% of foreigners). Just behind the UK comes Italy: some 1,400 Italians - a figure that has been stable for years - are registered as residents of Menorca. Next come Morocco (1,300) and Colombia (1,000), whose number of resident nationals has doubled in the space of a decade! France ranks fifth and Germany ninth. It's worth noting that there's a trend reversal here, since 10 years ago, Germany was in fifth place and France in seventh. After France come Ecuador (450), Romania (440) and Argentina (340).
