The Diplomat
The director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, yesterday inaugurated the Cervantes Chair at the University of Edinburgh, which will depend on the Cervantes Center in Manchester and will be the first extension of the institution in the Scottish capital.
For the development of its activity, the Cervantes Chair will have the support of the Spanish department of the University of Edinburgh, with a century of history, and will reinforce its work with the creation of the figure of the Cervantes Professor, a professor of the university itself that will support the work of the Instituto Cervantes. The chair will be held by Alexis Grohmann, Hispanist and professor of Contemporary Spanish Literature.
In addition, the new extension will have the necessary space for teacher training courses and cultural programs. The initiative was born with the support of the Scottish authorities, according to the Institute in a press release.
The inauguration ceremony was attended, in addition to García Montero, by the rector of the University of Edinburgh, Peter Mathieson; the Academic Director of the Instituto Cervantes, Carmen Pastor; the Consul General of Spain in Edinburgh, Ignacio Cartagena, and the new Cervantes Professor, Alexis Grohmann.
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is one of the largest and most prestigious in the United Kingdom. The teaching of Spanish in Scotland has grown steadily in recent years. Spanish is now taught in almost half of all primary schools and two thirds of secondary schools offer it as a third language. However, there is a great need for Spanish teacher training programs to meet the demand.
