Fala

Fala (ISO 639-3: fax) is an Ibero-Romace language spoken as first language by approximately 4500 speakers in Valverde des Fresno, Eljas and San Martín de Trevejo in Xalima Valley (Sierra de Gata, Spain), where it is known as Valverdeiru, Lagarteiru and Manhegu respectively. These communities belong to the autonomous community of Extremadura in Spain and are located near the border to Portugal, with which they always had a tight relationship. The geographical peculiarities of this region together with a strong group identity for which the language and its inter-generational transmission play the most important role explain the conservation of this language since the 12th/13th century in a region dominated by Estremeñu (Astur-Leonese branch) and Spanish (the official language of the whole Spanish State) on one side, and Portuguese on the other side of the border.

Fala is used by speakers of all social groups and all ages but only in informal contexts. The language of administration, education and most media (newspapers, radio, television and internet) is Spanish.