‘Only Spanish-speakers need apply…’

A MALAGA property-owners’ association recently stipulated that its president should be fluent in both spoken and written Spanish. Furthermore, interpreters and translations had to be paid for by community members requiring them, ruled the Torres de San Andres association.

This would help to avoid the situations which frequently arose in Andalucia’s community associations, explained spokesman Jose Antonio Sierra.

It was often necessary to be accompanied by an interpreter to translate into English or a languages not recognised by the Spanish constitution when speaking to community presidents, Sierra said.

A former director of the Instituto Cervantes in Dublin and founder of the Diversidad and Convivencia association, Sierra urged town halls to ensure that signs on all commercial premises were written in Spanish.

Businesses open to the public should also have members of staff with enough knowledge of Spanish to be able to attend to clients wishing to speak it, he said.