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Spain is one of the more linguistically interesting countries where Potter translations are concerned. There are 5 difference languages (Asturian, Basque, Catalan, Galician, and Spanish) and 1 adaptation (Valencian) are found here as well as the frustrating knot of different Spanish Potter books running around. In short, I can spend a lot of time discussing the many different Potter translations that call Spain home.
​For South American Spanish, Click Here.
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To listen to the Dialogue Alley Episode discussing the Potter books from Spain, Click Here.
To listen to the 1st paragraph of the 1st book in Spanish, Click Here For Asturian, Click Here. For Basque, Click Here. For Catalan, Click Here. For Galician, Click Here.
Asturian
The Asturian language is an Indo-European Romance language evolved from Latin in the Early Middle Ages. This language was closely linked to the Asturias Kingdom (northern Spain) as well as the following Leonese kingdom - Astur-Leonese was used in official documents during the 12th, 13th, and part of the 14th centuries; Castialian Spanish arrived during the 14th Century. There are three main dialects of this language - Western, Eastern, and Central, and they are mutually intelligible. The oldest preserved document Fueru d’Avilés, issued by Alfonso III to the town of Avilés in 1155 A.D.
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Asturian, also known as Bable, is a Romance language that developed in the region of Asturias, Spain, from Vulgar Latin, as did many other Iberian languages. Its origins can be traced back to the early medieval period when the Kingdom of Asturias was established in the 8th century. As the Kingdom grew, the local dialect of Latin evolved into a distinct language with influences from Visigothic, Arabic, and later, Castilian. Asturian remained a widely spoken language for centuries and was used in various forms of administration and literature, particularly during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. However, as Castilian Spanish became more dominant after the 16th century, Asturian began to decline in prestige and usage.
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The 19th and 20th centuries saw a further decline in the use of Asturian due to the increasing centralization of Spain and the promotion of Castilian as the national language. Despite this, the language maintained a strong presence in rural areas of Asturias and was used in folklore, oral traditions, and music. In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in the language, with efforts to promote its use in education, media, and cultural activities. Although Asturian does not have the same official status as other regional languages in Spain, like Catalan or Galician, it has been recognized as a protected language since 1999. The modern-day challenge for Asturian is to increase its vitality, especially in urban areas, and to ensure its transmission to future generations.​
To learn more about the Asturian language, Click Here, Here, Here, and Here.
To read what Potter of Babble has to say, Click Here.
Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal
The beautiful and very rare Asturian translation is from the Asturias region of Spain. This region in the northern-middle of Spain encompasses the city of Oviedo. This book was translated by Xesús González Rato was published by Trabe in 2009. Only 700 copies of book 1 were made; to date, this translation is among the 6 hardest Potter translations to find and is considered one of the "Big 6". Importantly too, this book has the same title as the very common Spanish translation, making searching that much harder.
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ISBN: 9788480535496
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For more reading about this translation: Click here.​
To hear the 1st paragraph of the book, Click Here.
Basque
Basque is a beautiful language found in Basque Country, an area that stretches from the western most Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. The Basque language, known as Euskara, is a unique and ancient language spoken in the Basque Country, which spans parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Its origins are shrouded in mystery, as it is believed to predate the arrival of Indo-European languages in Europe. Linguists classify it as a language isolate, meaning it has no known relation to any other language in the world. The earliest evidence of Euskara dates back to ancient inscriptions, with a rich oral tradition passing the language down through generations. Despite the challenges it faced, especially after the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the Basque language managed to survive, largely due to its deep-rooted connection to the Basque people's culture and identity.
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The history of Euskara saw significant shifts in the modern era, particularly during periods of Spanish and French centralization, which led to the suppression of regional languages. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Euskara faced a decline as a result of industrialization, the rise of Spanish and French as dominant languages, and political efforts to standardize language use. However, the 20th century also witnessed a revival of the language, especially following the end of the Franco dictatorship in Spain. Today, Euskara is a symbol of Basque identity and has seen a resurgence, with efforts to promote bilingualism, expand education in the language, and ensure its preservation for future generations.
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As Basque is an earlier Potter translation, Pre-Movie copies of books 1 - 3 exists. All 7 books were published by Elkarlanean and translated by Iñaki Mendiguren. The 1st Edition Basque books are out of print, making them harder to find fairly quickly due to demand. In late 2023 Basque published heavily revised editions in softcover. Currently, I only own books 1 and 2 from the revisions, but will be adding the rest over time. ​The Basque books use the same cover art the Spanish (Dolores Avendaño illustrator).
To hear the 1st paragraph of book 1 read, Click Here.
To hear the Dialogue Alley episode all about Basque, Click Here.
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Pre-movie books 1-3 are simply called pre-movie because they were published before or around the time of the 1st movie's release (2001) and they don't have the now ubiquitous "Harry Potter" font that is now found on the Basque translations.
Harry Potter eta sorgin-harria, 2000
ISBN: 9788483317037
Later Print
ISBN: 9788483317037
Harry Potter eta sekretuen ganbera, 2001
ISBN: 9788483317686
Harry Potter eta Suaren kopa, 2002
ISBN: 9788483319260
Harry Potter eta Fenixaren Ordena, 2004
ISBN: 9788497831901
Harry Potter eta Azkabango presoa, 2001
ISBN: 9788483318065
Harry Potter eta Odol Nahasiko Printzea, 2007
ISBN: 9788497834841
Harry Potter eta Herioaren Erlikiak, 2008
ISBN: 9788497836036
As I mentioned above, In 2023, the Basque books were heavily revised. Currently, they're only available in softcover and still only have the same covers they've always had. Books 1 -5 so far have been revised. To read more about the Basque revisions, Click Here.
ISBN: 9788413602653
ISBN: 9788413602660
ISBN: 9788413602677
Catalan
Catalan is a Romance language from the Neo-Latin language group named after the Medieval Principality of Catalonia in north-eastern Spain and is mostly closely related to Occitan. Catalan is the official language of Andorra and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, Valencia and Balearic Islands.
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The Catalan language has its roots in the Vulgar Latin spoken in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the Roman Empire. By the 9th century, the language had developed into a distinct Romance dialect, influenced by local languages, but also by the historical and political shifts of the region. It gained prominence during the Middle Ages, becoming the language of culture, law, and literature in the Crown of Aragon, which spanned much of modern-day Spain and parts of Italy. Catalan was widely used in administration, trade, and intellectual life, with works like the Llibre dels fets (The Book of Deeds) and the Cants de la Sibil·la further cementing its cultural role. By the 13th Century, the language had spread throughout Catalonia and beyond. The first book in Catalan was produced in 1474 - Les trobes en llaors de la Verge Maria.
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However, Catalan faced significant decline after the union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon in the 15th century. The centralization of power under the Spanish monarchy and the suppression of regional languages during the 18th century, particularly after the War of Spanish Succession, marked the beginning of a prolonged period of Catalan marginalization. Under Francisco Franco's dictatorship (1939–1975), the language was heavily repressed, with its use prohibited in public life, education, and media. After the death of Franco, Catalan experienced a revival in the late 20th century, gaining official status in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, and enjoying a resurgence in both spoken and written forms. Today, Catalan is a vibrant language spoken by millions, although political and cultural challenges continue to influence its status in Spain.
To read more about the Catalan language, Click Here and Here.
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Catalan was first translated in 1999 by Laura Escorihuela Martínez and published by Editorial Empúries. Like some other translations, there are many different editions of the Catalan books, some with unique covers and others using the UK covers.
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To hear the Dialogue Alley episode all about the Catalan books, Click Here.
Catalan, published by Editorial Empúries, was first released using quite cartoonish art; only book 1-3 were published in this edition, and there 2 states of the 1st book.
This is the very first Catalan Philosopher's Stone translation published and is called the first state as there is a second state as well. This translation is not surprisingly becoming harder to find, even in Spain now, especially with the rise Potter translation collecting. I personally love the generic wizard on the front cover of this amazing little book.
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ISBN: 9788475966410
Harry Potter i la pedra filosofal
2nd State, 1st Edition of the Catalan Philosopher's Stone translation. This cover is actually illustrated for the book. The next two books in the series are also found with similar illustrations.
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ISBN: 9788475966410
Harry Potter i la pedra filosofal
Books 2 and 3 of the 1st Edition
Harry Potter i la cambra secreta
ISBN: 9788475966991
Harry Potter i el pres d'Azkaban
ISBN: 9788475967233
Adult / large edition of the Catalan Potter translations were published in 2001. These books are quite a bit larger than the others and features toned-down cover art. This edition doesn't seem to easy to find either. The first 4 books were published in this edition. When I get the 2nd book, I'll add here.
Harry Potter i la pedra filosofal
ISBN: 9788475966410
Harry Potter i la pres d'Azkaban
ISBN: 9788475967233
Harry Potter i el calze de foc
ISBN: 9788475968827
In 2001, Catalan published the 1st four books in the style of the Bloomsbury UK Deluxe editions. These editions tend to be a bit more difficult to find as well as a bit pricier as well. I currently only have the first book. If I decide to get the other 3, I will add them. To be honest, the UK Deluxe editions, and by extension these editions, do not do much for me, so I would only buy the others if I found them at a deep discount.
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ISBN: 8475968333
One of the more common Catalan Potter books are the ones that bear the original Bloomsbury cover art, just changed up the color scheme a bit. And like the UK bloomsbury books as well, the books have pictorial boards that match the jackets. While these Catalan books aren't super common within the US e-commerce marketplace, they're around ore readily on other international sites.
Harry Potter i la Pedra Filosofal
ISBN: 9788475967745
Harry Potter i la Cambra Secreta
ISBN: 9788475967752
Harry Potter i el pres d'Azkaban
ISBN: 9788475967769
Harry Potter i el calze de foc
ISBN: 9788475967905
Harry Potter i l'orde del Fenix
ISBN: 9788497870245
Harry Potter i el misteri del Princep
ISBN: 9788497871716
Harry Potter i les reliquies de la Mort
ISBN: 9788497872850
The Catalan books were also published in the Olly Moss covers - all 7 books. The books can still be bought (if you click the book to the left, you'll go to the publisher and you can shop around). I don't own them, and I don't care much for the cover art, I don't particularly care to buy/own them. This photo came straight from the publisher's page.
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ISBN: 9788416367801
By far the most common Catalan Potter books seems to be these small little softcovers published by Labutxaca (with the Thomas Taylor one appearing first). While all 7 books were published by this publisher, I only have the 1st book and I'm not sure I'll finish this set.
ISBN: 9788499301518
Another Labutxaca edition, this time with the Jonny Duddle cover art. While all 7 books were published by this publisher, I only have the 1st book and I'm not sure I'll finish this set.
ISBN: 9788417420734
Check out the Publisher Website!
Not surprisingly, Empuries published the House Editions (with illustrations by Levi Pinfold) in Catalan. I'm only aware of softcover books in this edition. All 7 books were published in all 4 house colors and are still available for purchase from the publisher. To keep my collection under control, I only have the 1st book and in only Slytherin House.
ISBN: 9788417016708
ISBN: 9788416367122
ISBN: 9788416367658
ISBN: 9788417016128
ISBN: 9788417016913
ISBN: 9788418833342
ISBN: 9788419729385
From the publisher's website, it looks like only the 1st book was published in the interactive MinaLima edition.
Empuries also published the Jim Kay illustrated edition, and as always, they're beautiful. I don't own these book s- I pulled the photos from the publisher's website.
Galician
Galician is a Romance language spoken primarily in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. Its origins trace back to the Galician-Portuguese language spoken in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, which was part of the larger Iberian Peninsula during the 12th to 14th centuries. Over time, the language developed independently in different regions, leading to the differentiation of Galician and Portuguese. While Galician maintained its close ties with Portuguese for centuries, it became increasingly influenced by Spanish after Galicia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Castile in the late 15th century. This led to a gradual decline in the use of Galician, as Spanish became the dominant language in administration, education, and culture.
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In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Galician language experienced a revival, fueled by nationalist movements and a growing sense of regional identity. This renaissance was further supported by the publication of literary works in Galician and efforts to standardize the language. However, the language still faces challenges, as it is often seen as a "minority language" in Spain, with many Galicians choosing Spanish as their primary means of communication. Despite this, the language has experienced some revitalization in recent years, with increased use in education, media, and cultural expression, thanks in part to legal protections and regional language policies.
To hear the 1st paragraph of the Galician Philosopher's Stone read, Click Here.
To learn more about the Galician language, Click Here, and Here.
The Galician, or Galego, Harry Potter books look similarly different to the Spanish books in that the use the same illustrations by Dolores Avendaño, but they have dark blue boarders instead of yellow. They are published by Editorial Galaxia. From my understanding, the books are out of print, and due to that and rising demand, book 1 has become quite scarce. The other 6 books are somewhat still easily found if you know where to look. Currently, I only have books 1 and 3; as I fill out this set, I'll keep adding here.
Harry Potter e a pedra filosofal
ISBN: 9788482884967
Harry Potter e o preso de Azkaban
ISBN: 9788532511010
Spanish
The Spanish language originated in the Iberian Peninsula and evolved from the Vulgar Latin that was brought to that area by the Romans. There were differing dialects of this language throughout the area, but the dominant one came from the Kingdom of Castile - Old Castilian Spanish. In the 13th Century, Castilian Spanish was established in written form in Toledo, Spain - when the city was conquered by Castile. Modern Spanish derives from this Old Castilian Spanish. To learn more about the Spanish language, Click Here, and Here.
The Spanish publishing history of Harry Potter is quite murky. Different regional dialects and switching publishers are just some of the many issues here. Potterglot sorts this Spanish issue out much better than I can, so I'm not going to try to do that in this small space. All 7 books were published in Spanish in both hard and soft covers, and have several different editions, to put it mildly. Read Pottglot's articles, Here, Here, Here, Here, and here's Potterglot's main page. Even if you haven't read the linked articles by Potterglot, just know, the Spanish translations - yeah, they're a lot. For brevity, I'm just going to keep things as simple as possible. Like Basque, the 1st 3 books can be found with pre-movie font, as pictured below. Cover art of these Spanish books is by Dolores Avendaño.
I only the have books 1 - 3 and 6 of the 1st Spanish edition; honestly, I am not in a rush to finish this set as they're around and they're not my favorite covers, so I'm just buying to complete the set. As I add books though, I'll update here.
To the Dialogue Alley episode discussing the Spanish books, Click Here.
Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal
Harry Potter y el prisionero de Azkaban
Harry Potter y la Camara Secreta
Harry Potter y el misterio del principe
ISBN: 9788478885190
ISBN: 9788478884452
ISBN: 9788478884957
ISBN: 9788478889921
Like many other Potter languages, book club editions (BCEs) exist. These BCEs feature fun and cartoonish style cover art and are harder to find than the trade edition. I *think* only the first 4 books were published in BCE. I only have the first 3 books so far.
This edition, illustrated by Tiago da Silva, features more lovely original cover art. These books were published in softcover with the only hardcovers found being turtleback or library reinforced books. Currently, I only have books 1, 3 and 6 of this edition.
ISBN: 9788498386943
ISBN: 9788498386608
ISBN: 9788498386998
In late 2018, the Spanish translation of Philosopher's Stone was published into very lovely House Editions. House Editions for book 2 were released in October 2019. I'm fairly certain all 7 books were published in this edition; but for sanity sake, I only have each house from book 1. These books feature the art of Levi Pinfold.
Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal
ISBN: 9788498388930
ISBN: 9788498388879
ISBN: 9788498388916
ISBN: 9788498388893
In 2020, the Spanish books were published with 2014 Jonny Duddle artwork. All 7 books were published in this edition; however, as I have many Jonny Duddle sets, I willl probably only have the first book. Also, I was able to pick this book up from my local Barnes & Noble. ​
ISBN: 9781644732076
ISBN: 9781644732120
ISBN: 9781644732137
IN 2023, Salamandra, the Spanish publisher, published a beautiful 25th Anniversary edition of Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal. Thus far, I'm only aware of the first book being published, but I am hoping for all 7 books.
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Hear this book get put through the TOTS scale over on Dialogue Alley - Click Here.
ISBN: 9788419275301
In 2024, new Spanish editions were introduced featuring amazing, unique cover art by Xavier Bonet. These editions are also as tall as the 25th Anniversary Edition shown above. To say these books are amazing is an understatement. As of right now, only books 1 and 2 have been released, but I cannot wait for book 4 - 7
ISBN: 978841927506
ISBN: 9788419275813
ISBN: 9788419275820
Library - Binding
Los Cuentos de Beedle el Bardo
Alongside the Hogwarts School books, I have also seen a library-bound edition, whch I bought off eBay because of how unusual it looked - it had the blue border similar to Galician but the book was clearly Spanish; upon the book's arrival is when I figured out what it was.
Some languages offer translations of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and some of the translations feature beautiful cover art! The Spanish Beedle was translated by Gemma Rovira Ortega and published by Salamandra.
ISBN: 9788498381962
Valencian
The Modern Catalan language has 2 main dialects - Western Catalan (including West Catalan and Valencia) and Eastern. Politically fueled disputes between Catalan and Valencian have occurred essentially over whether Valencian is a dialect of Catalan or separate language. Lingusitically, there are only minor differences between the two and are mutually intelligible; also, these minor differences are not usually seen in the written language - only spoken.
To learn more about Valencian, Click Here.
The Valencian Potter books are actually adaptions of the Catalan translation of Harry Potter books and was published by Tandem Books. Only books 1 & 2 were published. The Valencian adaption is found in the Valencia region of Spain. Both books are quickly becoming scarce due at least in part to the influx of new translation collectors.
Harry Potter i la pedra filosofal
Harry Potter i la cambra secreta
ISBN: 9788481312775
