Silbo on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, based on Spanish, is one of the best-studied whistled languages. The number of distinctive sounds or phonemes in this language is a matter of disagreement, varying according to the researcher from two to five vowels and four to nine consonants. This variation may reflect differences in speakers' abilities as well as in the methods used to elicit contrasts. These sounds make it possible to communicate with people as far as 2.5 km away.

Until the late 1950s, Gomera was a place where there were few roads and hardly any telephones. In the 1960s, when roads were built and phones became available, the need for El Silbo decreased. In 1982, the local government decided to teach El Silbo at school.