The Diplomat in Spain

Juan David Latorre

On Thursday 18 April, the 16th Universal Reading of Don Quixote took place in the town of Esquivias, Toledo, Spain . Every year, ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps gather to read passages from the famous work of Don Miguel de Cervantes in their native language.

After the reception of the authorities, the Mayoress of Esquivias, Almudena González Pascual, welcomed all the guests and then passed the floor to the President of the Diputación de Toledo, Concepción Cedillo, who was extremely grateful to the members of the Diplomatic Corps who came to be the protagonists of the intimate and cultural event that took place during the afternoon, and began the reading with the first chapter of the work.

Afterwards, paragraphs from Don Quixote de la Mancha were read by the ambassadors of Croatia, Portugal, Australia, Slovenia, Canada, Finland, China, Albania and Serbia, the chargés d’affaires a.i. of Paraguay and Romania, and representatives and members of the embassies of Hungary, India, Lithuania, Mexico, Turkey and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Spanish representative, Tomás Arribas, a member of the Diputación de Toledo, closed the event.

Finally, organised by the City Council, a cocktail party was held in the courtyard of the Convento de los Capuchinos, where ambassadors and diplomats shared impressions with members of the Municipal Council of Esquivias and personalities from the political and economic spheres of Toledo.