The Diplomat
The Government has earmarked almost 333,000 euros for the contracting of repair works at the headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes in Alexandria (Egypt), which is at risk of collapse due to structural problems in the building.
The Instituto Cervantes in Alexandria (inaugurated in 1993, after collecting the legacy of the Spanish Center of the fifties) is located in one of the most emblematic centers of the city, a palace built in 1880 by the Italian Filippo Pini in Roseta Street, the ancient Canopic Way, traced by Alexander the Great.
Yesterday, the Council of Ministers adopted the agreement by which it takes note of the declaration of emergency for the contracting of repair works to ensure the structural stability of the building. According to the Executive, the headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes in Alexandria, intended for administrative and teaching use, has been gradually deteriorated by the continuous leaks of moisture from the terraces of the second floor and by the attack on its wooden structure, “reaching the point of collapse of the structure and roof of a room on the second floor”.
For this reason, the Instituto Cervantes in Cairo, on which the affected building depends, consulted local architects on the causes and the actions to be taken to ensure the stability of the building, and commissioned a local engineer and construction companies to prepare reports on the state of the building. Finally, given the disparity of criteria of the previous reports, last July the company Sociedad Mercantil Estatal Empresa de Transformación Agraria, SA, SME, MP (TRAGSA) was commissioned to draft a new report indicating the necessary measures to ensure the structure of the building.
The resulting report exposes “the seriousness of the situation, which involves a great danger for the users of the building and the need to adopt as a matter of urgency, various precautionary measures on the facades and roofs of the building, in the entire environment of the collapse produced,” says the Government. In view of this situation, on October 7, 2021, the emergency of the works contracting file was declared. The amount of the contract is 332,903.19 euros (taxes, fees and duties not included), earmarked for the aforementioned works.
The Instituto Cervantes of Alexandria offers Spanish courses, summer camps for children, special conversation classes, teacher training classes and two DELE exams for the official certification of the level of Spanish according to the European Framework classification. It also organizes a wide range of cultural activities, both in the building itself and in other cultural centers in the city, such as the Alexandria Opera House, its legendary Library or in the open air. Important representatives of Spanish culture have passed through the Cervantes Center in Alexandria, such as Terenci Moix (whose ashes lie in the sea of Alexandria), Julia Navarro, Rosa Regás, Manuel Martín Cuenca, Maruja Torres and Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa.
