The Diplomat
The Instituto Cervantes and Paradores de Turismo de España have signed an agreement to collaborate in the promotion of the teaching and study of Spanish, disseminate the offer of cultural and language tourism in Spain and disseminate Spanish cultural heritage abroad.
Under the agreement, signed last week by the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, and the president of Paradores de Turismo de España, Óscar López Águeda, the two parties will be able to organize cycles of cultural activities to promote culture in Spanish and promote the network of Paradores as cultural spaces. Likewise, they will be able to agree on exchanges and the assignment of spaces and offer advantageous conditions for certain services to both Instituto Cervantes students and the staff of both institutions.
Paradores “is a reference point for the public effort to make our country known and to work towards becoming a hospitable country”, said Luis García Montero after the signing, which took place at the Institute’s headquarters in Madrid. For this reason, he added, both Paradores and Cervantes coincide in their desire to “turn diplomacy into an exercise in hospitality so that people become part of our coexistence”.
According to García Montero, the agreement will be “very productive” and will take the form of various initiatives. For example, he said, the Institute’s publications will be available on the Paradores network and Spanish students at Cervantes centers will be introduced to “a map of Paradores” so that when they come to Spain they can take advantage of their valuable tourist and cultural offerings.
For his part, Óscar López Águeda highlighted the work carried out by Paradores in the conservation of Spain’s historical and artistic heritage and the “undisputed leadership” of Spain as the best tourist destination in the world for many reasons, such as climate, safety and gastronomy. Likewise, he assured that for Paradores, the only public company dedicated to tourism, it represents a “pride” to establish collaboration agreements with the Instituto Cervantes. Both organizations, he said, “represent the best of Spain for its promotion of culture, heritage and history”.
