Speech by President of the Government at the
meeting of the
BOARD OF TRUSTEES of the CERVANTES
INSTITUTE
El Pardo Royal Palace (Thursday, 11 October 2012)
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highness, Members of the
Board and other officials,
I would like to express my gratitude to Your Majesties for
the support shown by the Crown to this institution through
your chairing of the sessions of its Board of Trustees.
I would also like to welcome the members of the Board of
Trustees; both those who are here for the first time, whose
incorporation implies added confidence for the mission of
the Institute, and those members of longer standing, whose
presence represents renewed support.
I would also like to extend this welcome to the new Director,
Mr. Víctor García de la Concha, and to the General
Secretary, Mr. Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga.
In my role as Executive President of the Board of Trustees,
and pursuant to the Regulations of the Cervantes Institute, I
should like to nominate the General Secretary of the
Standing Committee of the Association of Language
Academies as the representative of the Trustees on the
Board of Directors of the Institute.
Your Majesties,
The Cervantes Institute has been performing an excellent
role as an ambassador of Spain around the world for more
than 20 years now, and has known how to improve, include
and give international projection to the broad and plural
cultural heritage of our nation.
In the name of Cervantes and his „Bible‟, as Unamuno
described “El Quijote”, Spain presents itself to the world as
a nation with an open, inclusive, constructive and
integrating vocation.
It was also presented as such two hundred years ago in the
Cadiz Constitution. A Magna Carta drafted by citizens on
both sides of the Atlantic who, for the first time, wrote their
common desire for freedom in the Spanish language.
In the same way as our constitutional commitment in 1812
was imbued with the profound conviction that we all form
part of a common and diverse project, our present
constitution confirms the certainty that all of us, in a united
front, must be the keepers of our destiny.
Your Majesties,
The Cervantes Institute is an endeavour sustained through
time whose management, responsibility and commitment
have prevailed over legislatures and political upheavals,
thus complying with its vocation as a State project with
which it was founded.
It thus constitutes grounds for pride for all Spaniards to see
the success of this institution, and the international standing
and recognition that it has achieved.
If these first two decades of the Institute have resulted in its
development and consolidation, the new reality of the
Spanish language represents an unbeatable framework of
opportunities to tackle the challenges of an undoubtedly
complex environment.
In fact, the current economic circumstances require that we
make more efficient use of available resources, but are also
an incentive for us to tackle new and urgent strategic
alliances and models of cultural and linguistic presence that
foster the expansion of the Spanish language and the
culture of Spanish-speaking countries.
These strategies need to acknowledge the new reality of
the geography of the Spanish language, in which cities like
Mexico City, Miami, Barcelona or Buenos Aires, due to their
power and dynamism, constitute essential „capitals‟ of the
culture of Spanish-speaking countries.
This decentralisation of the Spanish language is one of the
main assets of our language. If the Spanish were the
founders of the “Spanish company”, nowadays, in the
second decade of the 21st Century, we hold the same stake
in the shareholding with the nations and citizens on the
other side of the Atlantic.
In this way, the future of our language and culture, which
beats strongly in Spain, depends, to a great extent, on the
development and progress of Latin American societies, with
whom we need to agree and coordinate better.
It is only with the full participation and leadership of the
Ibero-American community as a whole that the Spanish
language can become a truly global tool.
A tool that transmits cultural and historical wealth, but also
dynamism and creativity, liberty and opportunities, science
and technology, diversity and plurality.
In this way, we will be able to take advantage of the global
potential of our culture to reach the new political,
technological and financial frontiers that are being sought in
Asia and the Pacific. Lands and seas to which Spain
expanded the frontiers of western civilization almost five
centuries ago.
We are a community of common values and interests on
both sides of the Atlantic. The Spanish language belongs to
us all, it is a „public asset‟ shared with Ibero-American
countries, and consequently, the promotion of the Spanish
language and culture of Spanish-speaking countries is a
labour that transcends us as a country.
That is why it is only right for Latin American countries to
participate in the Cervantes Institute and all its centres
around the world.
And that is how we can collaborate in drawing up a joint
programme that will enable us to project a common image
of the Spanish language, of what is „Hispanic‟, starting with
the United States, whose Latin community is increasingly
more influential and decisive in the perception of what is
Hispanic around the world.
Your Majesties,
The potential of the Cervantes Institute not only extends to
the vindication of a rich cultural heritage or in spreading the
Spanish language and the culture in Spanish-speaking
countries as a social, political, technological value but also
as a financial resource.
In each country where we carry on our activity, the
Cervantes Institute must serve as a local platform to
promote “cultural industries”, which constitute a
fundamental element in the growth of the Spanish economy
and an exponent in the internationalisation of our
companies.
The Cervantes Institute is the first window that thousands of
citizens in Europe, Asia, North America and Africa look out
of to contemplate the reality of our country. It is the first
snapshot they have of us.
And hence the Cervantes Institute has become an essential
element of our foreign policy, particularly in times such as
the present, in which the perception of Spain does not
always correspond to the reality.
The Cervantes Institute is key to building an image of our
country; an image in which our artistic capacity or the power
of our language and culture are perfectly recognisable, but
which purveys the characteristics of 21st Century Spain.
In other words, a plural, multi-faceted, technologically
advanced country that is a leader in tourism, gastronomy
and sporting success, with an identifiable image through its
economic potential and the soundness of its institutions.
That is why it is necessary to redouble our efforts and work
towards effective coordination between the cultural,
economic, scientific and political instruments that project
our reality to the outside world as the modern and advanced
country that we are.
Your Majesties, Members of the Board,
The Spanish language symbolises more than five centuries
of common history; the language of citizens that decided to
join forces and not underline differences.
The Spanish language enjoys excellent health and is
increasingly used in all types of formats and learned both as
a first and a second language, in both the most developed
countries and emerging countries.
Language exists to create forums of coexistence,
communication and exchanges that are increasingly
growing, such as the Spanish language in America. A
language belongs to its people, it is their right to use it and
know it and this must be protected by our public authorities.
The project of the future to which we aspire obviously
surpasses our strict geographic borders. We will grow and
become greater with more Europe and more America. It is
not merely a question of generosity and purpose; the
strength of the Spanish language – a language that has
known how to fully incorporate globalisation – encourages
us down this path and it is our job to travel that path with
determination.
Thank you very much.