Brush up on your Spanish for your Gibraltar Wedding

If you’ve already decided on the beautiful island of Gibraltar for your wedding, you may be thinking about brushing up on the local language for your trip. Did you know that Gibraltar has its own local dialect – Llanito? Llanito is a mix of Spanish, English, and Portuguese – so it may be a little too much homework to pick up some Llanito before your trip. However, most people on Gibraltar are bilingual in English and Spanish, and it can be fun to learn at least a few words to be polite. With these simple phrases, you’ll be able to greet and thank people who have helped make your Gibraltar wedding come off without a hitch.

Greetings

You can greet people at any time of day with these three simple phrases: ‘buenos días’ (good morning), ‘buenas tardes’ (good afternoon), and ‘buenas noches’ (good evening). If someone greets you in this way, simply repeat the phrase back to them. To say ‘hello’, you can use ‘hola’ – but remember that that ‘h’ is silent, so it sounds more like ‘ola’.

Minding your manners

You may wish to thank someone for great service, in which case you could say ‘gracias’. Remember that in Spanish, the ‘c’ sound is quite soft, so this sounds more like ‘grasias’. ‘Please’ is ‘por favor’, and you can add this to any request – for example ‘Un té, por favor’ would be an easy way to ask for that much needed cup of tea.

Celebrating in style

When you arrive in Gibraltar for your perfect day, you will probably want to order some drinks. In Spanish, the word for Champagne is ‘cava’ (this is one of those words you probably already know). So to ask for a glass of the sparkly stuff you can say ‘Un vaso de cava, por favor’.

Saying ‘I love you’

No wedding in Gibraltar would be complete without saying those magic words ‘I love you’. In Spanish you’d say ‘te amo’, and to say ‘I love you too’, you can reply with ‘Yo también te amo’- a little more complicated, but worth the effort to wow your spouse with your knowledge of Spanish.