Culture of Spain medieval times, a single language which linguists call Galician-Portuguese, Medieval Galician, or Old Portuguese, spoken in the territories initially ruled by the medieval Kingdom of Galicia. Both languages are even today united by a dialect continuum located mainly in the northern regions of Portugal. Aranese () is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in north western Catalonia on the border between Spain and France, where it is one of the three official languages besides Catalan and Spanish. Other languages of Spain: About 68% of Spaniards identify as belonging to
Flag of Portugal acceding to the Portuguese throne as Philip I, installing a Spanish dynasty. The accession was made on the condition that Portugal was ruled as a separate, autonomous state, not as a province. This was fulfilled as Portugal and Spain formed a personal union under Philip I and his successors. A consequence of this administrative situation was the maintenance of the flag created under Sebastian's reign as the Portuguese national flag, while Spain had its own. As the ruling house in Portugal, the Habsburg banner also included the Portuguese arms. The country regained its independence from Spain, in 1640, in a