Abstract Since the late 1800s, the Uruguayan Government has attempted to enforce cultural and linguistic norms along the border with Brazil through the prohibition of Portuguese, especially in schools, despite the fact that this is the heritage language of most border residents. This research focuses on the differential use of Spanish and Portuguese in Rivera, the largest city on the border. Using self-reported data and metalinguistic commentaries extracted from interviews with 63 Spanish–Portuguese bilinguals, the use of both languages in various domains (home, school, work spaces) and with diverse interlocutors (family, friends, co-workers, superiors) is analyzed. Quantitative and qualitative analysis reveals that Portuguese, which has been marginalized for decades, is more frequently used in the home with relatives and close friends. The use of Portuguese in more formal domains, including schools, is much less frequent. The results from this study corroborate a perception within the community that Portuguese lacks the prestige of Spanish and provide further evidence of its status as a primarily home language. The current research does not show a progressive shift toward Spanish in Rivera nor does it support claims by other researchers that this community is diglossic. Keywords: SpanishPortuguese portuñol language contactlanguage usebilingual education Acknowledgements This research would not have been possible without the generous support of a Tinker Foundation Grant from the Latin American and Iberian Institute of the University of New Mexico, which allowed me to conduct fieldwork in Rivera. I am also extremely grateful for the advice given to me by Ana Maria Carvalho, Adolfo Elizaincín, and Rena Torres-Cacoullos. Thank you also to the people of Rivera, who welcomed me into their community with open arms. Notes 1. Definitions of bilingualism should not be based on language use alone, however, since attitudes toward both languages also shape a bilingual's identity (Ben-Rafael, Olshtain, and Geijst Citation1998; Hoare Citation2001; Joseph Citation2004; Lawson and Sachdev Citation2004). In other words, bilingualism is not merely a linguistic phenomenon involving frequency of use, but rather a social one as well, which is defined largely by its role within the community. Consequently, these attitudes affect the bilingual's choice of one language or another. 2. Five of six of these speakers are of the second generation, while only one is of the third generation (speaker 15, female, professional occupation). The social attributes of each consultant, however, vary. Of the second generation, two males (one with a professional job and one with a nonprofessional job) did not complete the questionnaire. Likewise, the three women who did not complete the questionnaire cover both occupational classes (two professionals and one nonprofessional), thereby maintaining the diversity of the original composition of social characteristics for this generation. 3. Nonprofessionals differ from professionals in that the work they perform does not require formal academic training. These members of the community are taxi drivers, shopkeepers and their employees, hotel owners and their employees, waiters, bartenders, construction workers, etc. 4. Some of the younger consultants indicated percentages of language use with a spouse, which most clarified by writing in the margin novio or novia 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend.' These percentages were not included in the rate calculations presented in Table 4 since these interlocutors do not belong strictly to home domains.