<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, has defended the role of Spain's co-official languages and warned, in this regard, that “it doesn't make much sense to call yourself a patriot and go to Europe to boycott Spain's diversity.”</strong></h4> “I hope that people who claim to love Spain understand that it's a diverse country, and what doesn't make sense is that those who call themselves patriots then go to Europe to boycott its richness, its linguistic diversity, and its culture,” García Montero stated this Thursday during his participation in the Europa Forum, the information breakfast organized in Madrid by the Nueva Economía Forum in Madrid. “We, by the very definition of the institute since it was launched, feel connected to the diversity of all the languages of the state, and we sometimes don't understand the narrow-mindedness of recognizing such richness,” he stated. “No one has the right to be the center of attention or tell others how to speak, but rather to maintain unity within the respect for each person's ability to speak Spanish,” he added. García Montero also defended the need for Spanish to become “the bridge, through Spain,” between Europe and Latin America “to have a clear presence defending values in a world order that, from China, the United States, and Russia, is becoming very dirty.” “In the situation of tension, belligerence, and authoritarianism that is beginning to take hold in the world, Spain, as a bridge between Europe and Latin America, must play a fundamental role,” he added. Furthermore, the director of the Cervantes Institute asserted that the center's language policies “are not against English,” but he defended the “strength” of Spanish worldwide to prevent English from “erasing other languages.” “It's great to be a majority language, and it's important that so many millions of people can understand each other across the miles, but we must ensure that a majority language doesn't become a hegemonic language that seeks to erase other languages,” he warned. A language “can quadruple investments and 20-fold increase trade agreements, because languages establish trust,” he stated. “We must be aware of this, and from there, we must defend the idea that economics in and of itself is not a justification if it is not at the service of human relations,” he added.
