Mazaricos approves the Galician language ordinance with thirty days of public exhibition

The Plenary of the Mazaricos Council initially approved, in the extraordinary session of November 2, 2026, the municipal ordinance regulating the use of the Galician language, a text of thirteen chapters that makes the native language of Galicia the ordinary working language of the municipal administration and of companies operating by concession. The agreement was published in the Official Gazette of the Province of A Coruña, number 213, on Friday, November 6, 2026, in the Local Administration section, with the official reference 2026/7186 and the signature of the mayor, Juan J. Blanco Riveiro. Following this publication, a thirty-day period opens for interested parties to examine the file and present any claims or suggestions they deem appropriate.

The text arrives in the gazette in a provisional phase: if no claims are made, it will be understood as definitively approved without the need for a new plenary agreement. The regulation invokes article 70.2 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the bases of the local regime, and the period of its article 65.2, and establishes in the final provision that it will enter into force after its full publication in the BOP of A Coruña.

The statement of motives places the initiative in line with article 5 of the 1981 Statute of Autonomy of Galicia and Law 3/1983, of June 15, on linguistic normalization, as well as Law 5/1988, of June 21, on the use of Galician by local entities. It also cites the General Plan for the Normalization of the Galician Language, approved unanimously in the Galician Parliament in 2004 and updated in October 2026.

Thirteen chapters and a positive offer as a starting point

The ordinance is organized into the following blocks:

• Chapter I: object and scope of application, which covers all organs, units, entities, and organisms dependent on the Council.
• Chapters II and III: official use of the language and public attention.
• Chapters IV and V: administrative action and documentation, publications, and public activities.
• Chapters VI and VII: purchases, contracting of services, and signaling and labeling.
• Chapters VIII and IX: relations with other administrations and personnel in the service of the Administration.
• Chapters X to XIII: toponymy, institutional impulse, linguistic quality, and the Linguistic Normalization Service.

The axis of the regulation is the so-called positive offer: all services in relation to the public will use Galician as the incoming communication language, both oral and written, and automatic mechanisms —answering machines and other telephone or computer means— will use Galician by default. Citizens have the right to be attended to in Galician and to receive all municipal documentation and notifications in Galician.

Contracts, signs, and external dependencies

The procurement chapter requires specifying in the tenders and agreements that services shall be provided in Galician and that acquired goods—software and computer equipment, telephone devices, consumable materials—shall be labeled in that language. The rule extends to the municipal vehicle fleet and that of the contractors, as well as to the labels on staff uniforms. The clause makes it clear that this cannot be a cause for the exclusion of bidders and that contractors may request the tenders in Spanish.

Regarding signage, the regulation requires Galician and respect for official toponymy on streets, public spaces, and municipal buildings. In communications with other administrations, the City Council will write in Galician those addressed to bodies within the Galician scope and will be bilingual for those outside the autonomous community.

Language test in selection processes

Staff must have sufficient knowledge of Galician and be in a position to use it in their work. To this end, selection procedures will include a language test adapted to the level and content of the positions, which may be oral or written. The tests will be written in Galician and distributed by default to the candidates, although they may complete them in either of the two official languages.

The ordinance also provides for the possibility of granting subsidies and, under Article 25 of Law 3/1983, reductions or exemptions from tax obligations for initiatives that promote the use of Galician. As technical support, the City Council will rely on the Linguistic Normalization Service shared with the City Council of Carnota, under the terms of the current agreement.

The regulation directly affects the residents, who gain specific linguistic rights in their relationship with the administration, but above all the municipal staff and the companies that work for the City Council, which must adapt documentation, signage, and public service. The thirty-day period from November 6 is the only window to introduce changes before the text is finalized and enters into force.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of A Coruña, no. 213, November 6, 2026, Local Administration (official reference: 2026/7186).