Language blues

By Jason Moore AN estimated 50 million tourists come to Spain every year, the majority from Britain and Germany. Tourism, as we all know, is one of the principle source of revenue for the economy. I was therefore rather shocked to see that only 37 percent of Spaniards can speak a foreign language. The results of the European wide poll, published in the Bulletin on Sunday, do not making good reading for the Spanish. This lack of language skills must be hampering the tourist industry. It is also probably one of the reasons why so many foreign people are employed within the tourist industry just because they can speak either German or English. The Spanish government should take note at the results of this survey. English is this computer day and age is vital and perhaps the governmet should invest in free language classes for its citizens. I did notice that Britain was also at the bottom of the class with only 20 percent of the population being able to speak another language. Both countries need to get their act together. The fact that a sizeable proportion of the world understand either Spanish or English is no excuse. The language skills of the Scandanavians and to a lesser extent, the Germans, are to be admired. Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero, doesn't speak a word of English and the same can be said for prominent members of the Balearic government. This state of affairs must change for the good of Spain and to a lesser extent the European Union. If we can't communicate with each other, it doesn't say much for the future.