The Diplomat
Asturias will host for the first time, between July 11 and 14, the Annual Meeting of Directors of the Instituto Cervantes, a summit that will bring together some seventy directors of this institution and which is usually inaugurated by Queen Letizia.
The event will be held in the cities of Oviedo, Gijón and Avilés, as announced last Monday by the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, and the Minister of Culture, Language Policy and Tourism of the Government of Asturias, Berta Piñán, after signing a collaboration agreement between the two parties.
García Montero also announced that, in addition to the meeting itself and its working sessions, there will be a central event in tribute to the singer Víctor Manuel, who will leave a legacy to the Caja de las Letras.
Since 2005, the Cervantes directors’ meetings have been held every year (except in 2020 because of the pandemic) in various cities in a total of ten autonomous communities: Andalusia, Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, Cantabria, Extremadura, La Rioja, Galicia, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community.
On the other hand, Luis García Montero and Berta Piñán signed an agreement to promote the dissemination of Asturian culture and language and to integrate the Asturian language into the activities carried out by the Instituto Cervantes. The agreement contemplates that authors in the Asturian language will participate in the national and international programming of the Institute in order to disseminate the multilingual reality of Spain and Asturias.
“This agreement not only strengthens the ties between the government of Asturias and the Cervantes Institute, but it is also a unique opportunity for the Asturian language to travel around the world,” said the Minister. For his part, García Montero affirmed that it is “an obligation of the Instituto Cervantes to collaborate with the Autonomous Communities to bring plurality abroad”. The agreement will be in force for four years, extendable for another four years.
