Asturian (Asturian: Asturianu or Bable) is a Romance language of the West Iberian group, Astur-Leonese Subgroup, spoken in the Spanish province of Asturias by the Asturian people. In Asturias it is protecte under the Autonomous Statute legislation and is an optional language at schools, being widely studied. As part of the Astur-leonese group, Asturian was formerly considered an informal dialect (basilect) of Spanish, but in 1906, Ramón Menéndez Pidal showed it was the result of Latin evolution in the Kingdom of León, and nowadays it is considered a separate language.