After a decades-long debate, English and Papiamentu were made official languages alongside Dutch in early March 2007."Antilles allow Papiamentu as official language" , The Times Hague/Amsterdam/Rotterdam, 9 March 2007, page 2. Legislation was produced in Dutch, but parliamentary debate was in Papiamentu or English, depending on the island. Due to a massive influx of immigrants from Spanish-speaking territories such as the Dominican Republic in the SSS islands, and increased tourism from Venezuela in the ABC islands, Spanish had also become increasingly used.
After a decades-long debate English and Papiamentu were made official languages alongside Dutch in early March 2007."Antilles allow Papiamentu as official language" , The Times Hague/Amsterdam/Rotterdam, 9 March 2007, page 2. Legislation was produced in Dutch, but parliamentary debate was in Papiamentu ,or English, depending on the island. Due to a massive influx of immigrants from Spanish-speaking territories such as the Dominican Republic in the SSS islands, and increased tourism from Venezuela in the ABC islands, Spanish had also become increasingly used.