The Diplomat
King Philip VI and Queen Letizia presided yesterday at the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) in Madrid the institutional ceremony commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the Association of Spanish Language Academies (ASALE).
ASALE is the entity in charge of bringing together the different Academies of the Spanish Language in order to promote the unity, integrity and development of the Spanish language. Created in Mexico in 1951, it groups the twenty-three corporations of America, Spain, the Philippines and Equatorial Guinea. Its headquarters are located in Madrid, in the premises of the RAE, and since its constitution it has held more than fifteen congresses. ASALE’s motto is Una estirpe, una lengua y un destino (One lineage, one language and one destiny).
During the event, the director of the Royal Spanish Academy and president of ASALE, Santiago Muñoz Machado, gave a summary of the Association’s fundamental work, with special attention to two strategic projects: the Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DHLE) and Spanish Language and Artificial Intelligence (LEIA). Also during the event, Crónica de la lengua española 2021 was presented, along with a supporting video, and speakers included the deputy director of the Mexican Academy of Language, Concepción Company; the interim director of the Bolivian Academy of Language, José Roberto Arze; the president of the National Academy of Letters of Uruguay, Wilfredo Penco; and the director of the Puerto Rican Academy of the Spanish Language, José Luis Vega.
The ceremony concluded with some words from the King in which he affirmed that the Academies have been able to combine “their fidelity to the past, to the history of our language”, with “their resolute decision to face the immediate future that will be marked by artificial intelligence”. An example of this, he recalled, is the LEIA program, which was presented “as a great project” at the Congress of Academies held in Seville in 2019 and which “already has the first concrete achievements”.
Among those attending the event were the Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant; the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Juan Fernández Trigo; the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero; the president of Congress, Meritxell Batet; the president of the Constitutional Court, Pedro José González-Trevijano; the president of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, Carlos Lesmes; the presidents of the autonomous communities of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso; La Rioja, Concepción Andreu; and Aragón, Francisco Javier Lambán; the president of the Council of State, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega; the president of the Court of Auditors, Enriqueta Chicano; the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo; the secretary general of the Standing Committee of ASALE, Francisco Javier Pérez Hernández; and several ambassadors, among other personalities.
