ABSTRACT

This chapter draws on various core concepts such as superdiversity and linguistic landscape studies to consider what happens when a global language such as Spanish becomes a supposedly invisible variety within the dynamic global city of London. It begins by setting London in its context as a “global city” and considering what this categorization means. The chapter describes the demographic and sociolinguistic situation of Spanish in London, highlighting migration from Spain since the early 20th century and from Latin America in recent decades. It considers the concept of “superdiversity” and argues that while this term has provoked much further thought and even some contention, it would be impossible to study London without reference to the concept. The chapter also considers the question of a Spanish-speaking “community” in London before introducing an analysis of the visual environment of the city’s transnational urban spaces to reveal the impact of Spanish.