Blog del Instituto Cervantes de Londres

This morning, Carmen Noguero, Secretary General of the Spanish cultural institution,  signed two documents: the first cooperation protocol between Instituto Cervantes and the British Council and also an agreement with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom for the promotion of Spanish language and culture. Likewise, Noguero has presented the Spanish in the World 2019 Yearbook to Spanish-American ambassadors, diplomats and academics, at one event, and to Spanish teachers, Hispanic and cultural managers at another event.

Tomorrow, Noguero will head to Oxford University where she will conclude her trip accompanied by the director of International Relations at Instituto Cervantes, Rafael Soriano; the director of Institute Cervantes in London, Ignacio Peyró; and the director for Manchester and Leeds, Francisco Oda.

Yearbook presentations to diplomats and Hispanists

Noguero visited Instituto Cervantes in London, where she held a meeting with the staff of the three Cervantes institutions in the United Kingdom: London, Manchester and Leeds. She was shown the library and the centre’s historical archive, which are well-known for their collection of travel books in Spain and documentation of the Civil War.

Her first public event was the presentation of the largest academic publication by Instituto Cervantes, the 2019 edition of The Spanish in the world yearbook. Previously, a large delegation of Latin American diplomats and academics. 

The ambassadors of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and El Salvador were at the event, in addition to Cristina Cortés, director of Canning House, the prestigious think tank on Latin American affairs; and the director of the office of the Universidad Autónoma de México in London, Ana Elena González, among others. The different offices of Instituto Cervantes cooperate in cultural matters continuously with the Embassies and cultural councils of the Latin American countries.

The Secretary General also presented the yearbook at another event for Spanish teachers in the United Kingdom, Hispanists and cultural managers. Among the attendees were guests and professors such as Sir Barry Ife, Trevor Dadson, Catherine Davies or Sebastian Balfour, and the president of the association of Spanish teachers in the United Kingdom (ELE-UK), Vicens Colomer.

Spanish in the world 2019 gathers current data and in-depth analysis on the presence and importance of the Spanish language globally. In this edition, the volume highlights significant figures such as the 580 million people who speak Spanish in the world (7.6% of the world’s population). Of these, 483 million are native speakers which makes Spanish the second mother tongue in the world by number of speakers. In addition, about 22 million people in 110 countries study it as a foreign language. Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet, and the report corresponding to 2019 reflects, as a novel fact, its growth in Linkedin.

Agreement signature with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce

Together with the protocol signed with the British Council, the agreement signed with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom is one of the strengths of the trip. The event took place at the residence of the ambassador of Spain in London, Carlos Bastarreche, and was signed by the Chamber’s president, lawyer and solicitor Eduardo Barrachina. Barrachina stressed the importance of the agreement as a “model of public collaboration- private service to the projection of Spanish culture”. 

“The Chamber and its companies understand very well that Spanish and Spanish culture are a source of wealth. This framework of collaboration guarantees that the Spanish culture has greater projection in the United Kingdom, and with this signature, the Chamber and its companies recognize the economic value of the Spanish culture,” said Barrachina.

In the agreement, the first signed by both institutions, various actions to promote the Spanish language and culture are contemplated, especially in the field of Spanish for business. The Chamber brings together more than three hundred Spanish companies operating in the United Kingdom.

Meeting with Spanish executives of the City

At the end of the afternoon, Noguero attended the Christmas reception of the British Spanish Society, a charity founded in 1916 that promotes friendship and understanding between British and Spanish people. Noguero’s journey culminated with a dinner, offered by Hispania restaurant, with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and the Spanish business and financial world in the City of London.

Visit to Sir John Elliott and hispanism authorities in Oxford

Tomorrow, Noguero, at the culmination of her trip, will meet with the great Hispanic and Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences Sir John Elliott in the city of Oxford. Likewise, she will hold meetings at Exeter College with the greatest academic authorities in Hispanicism and teaching of the language of the famous university, specifically, professor “Alfonso XIII” of Spanish Studies, Jonathan Thacker, and professor and coordinator of Spanish in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, Javier Muñoz-Basols. Finally, the General Secretary will attend a lunch at Magdalen College, offered in her honor by professor of Spanish literature Juan Carlos Conde, promoter of the Madariaga Cycle of conferences on Spanish issues, with which the Instituto Cervantes collaborates.