King Felipe VI warns of the “complex” situation facing the Spanish-speaking community in the US

Eduardo González The King and Queen presided over the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Cervantes Institute on Tuesday, December 9th, where the King warned of the “complex” situation facing the Spanish-speaking community in the US, a country whose “history and present” could hardly be understood “without the contribution of the Spanish language and the Spanish-speaking community.” The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, the institution's highest governing body, took place at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez and was attended by, in addition to the King (honorary president) and the Queen, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez (executive president), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, the State Secretary for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Susana Sumelzo, and the Director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero. The Board of Trustees of the Cervantes Institute is composed of institutional, academic, and cultural representatives from Spain and Latin America, including university rectors, presidents of Royal Academies, renowned writers and artists, as well as heads of highly influential social and cultural institutions. The meeting began with the King presenting the 2025 Ñ Prize to Professor and essayist María Delgado in recognition of her work in promoting and disseminating the Spanish language internationally. The Ñ Prize was created in 2021, as part of the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Cervantes Institute, to recognize the achievements of individuals (natural or legal persons, public or private) who, not being native Spanish speakers, have distinguished themselves through their work in promoting and disseminating our language internationally. Subsequently, the Board of Trustees meeting was held, during which the minutes of the previous session were approved, the annual report of the Cervantes Institute was presented—through which the trustees were able to learn about the data for the 2024-2025 academic year and the objectives and forecasts for the new academic year—and speeches were given by the authorities present and the recipient of the Ñ Prize. In his address, Pedro Sánchez highlighted the importance of the Spanish language in the world, with 520 million native speakers and 630 million who use it in their daily lives, and praised the work of the Cervantes Institute, whose centers, he stated, have increased their activity by 40% in the last four years. He also proposed the renewal, for a second three-year term, of the Secretary General of the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, Francisco Javier Pérez Hernández, as the Board of Trustees' representative on the Institute's Board of Directors. Pérez Hernández, born in Caracas in 1959, was first appointed in 2023 by the Council of Ministers at the proposal of the Board of Trustees. Spanish in the US After the meeting, the King and Queen hosted a luncheon for the members of the Board of Trustees and invited guests. During the luncheon, the King addressed the attendees, warning that it is not enough to diagnose the state of the Spanish language solely based on its “magnificent numbers of speakers and students.” “We must also consider some complex realities, such as the one experienced by the Spanish-speaking community in the US in relation to some recent decisions—a country with which, as Spaniards and as Europeans, we have a tremendous affinity,” he stated. “It is worth remembering that the history and present of that great country, which next year will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its independence, could hardly be understood without the contribution of the Spanish language and the Spanish-speaking community,” he added. Last February, during the previous annual meeting of the Board of Trustees (which was scheduled for November 2024 but was canceled due to the DANA storm), King Felipe VI described as “striking” the decision by US President Donald Trump to close the Spanish-language page of the White House website, and the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, denounced the “arrogance” of the American president, who has reduced Spanish to “a language of the poor and migrants.”

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