An agreement between the Spanish and the Portuguese governments will allow six schools of Extremadura to offer Portuguese language as an optional subject next cours. Under the agreement, teaching of Portuguese will be offered in the whole of the autonomous community within 4 years, and the government of Portugal will provide the teachers and the resources needed to fulfill the accord. It is estimated that there are 10,000 Portuguese speakers in the region of Olivença, Extremadura.

Portuguese minister for education, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues, has said that the ministry is holding similar talks with other bordering autonomous communities such as Castile and León and Galicia. Students from Galicia would acquire the language easily, as Portuguese belongs to the same language variety as Galician.

Further information:

• Vieiros: Todos os alumnos de Estremadura poderán estudar portugués en 2013
• Jornal de Notícias: Ensinar Português em seis escolas espanholas
• La Voz de Galicia: Feijoo estudia que el portugués sea una asignatura opcional en Galicia