The Diplomat
The director of the Instituto Cervantes. Luis García Montero, concluded yesterday his working visit to Lebanon, during which he visited the center of the institution in Beirut, after the serious difficulties caused by the pandemic and the explosion of last summer. He also announced the opening of a new extension in Baalbek, which will cover the entire territory of Lebanon, and learned first-hand about the work being done by the Spanish contingent of the UN in teaching the Spanish language.
García Montero arrived in Beirut last Monday with the aim of supporting the cultural and teaching work carried out by the Instituto Cervantes center in the capital, which was seriously damaged by the devastating explosion that shook the city on August 4. This is the second trip made by a Cervantes director to Lebanon, after the one made in November 2010 by Carmen Caffarel.
Speaking to journalists, the director of the Instituto Cervantes said that the center – which has been operating for 30 years, the same as the Cervantes itself – “is already at full capacity” and reiterated its “commitment to the future” with Lebanon, a country in which interest in the Spanish language and the demand for its teaching has increased significantly over the last three decades.
García Montero – who traveled accompanied by the secretary general of the Institute, Carmen Noguero, among other Cervantes officials – moved on Tuesday to Baalbek, a town of 25,000 inhabitants located in the Bekaa Valley (about 30 kilometers from the capital), where he announced the opening of a new extension, consisting of a couple of classrooms, to teach Spanish. With the new extension in Baalbek, in which the Spanish Embassy and the Lebanese University will collaborate, Cervantes will cover the different geographical areas of Lebanon: Beirut, Kaslik (with an extension), Tripoli (a classroom), Marjayoun (where it helps the Spanish military at the Miguel de Cervantes base to teach Spanish to the civilian population and UN personnel) and the aforementioned Baalbek. García Montero was accompanied by the Spanish Ambassador, José María Ferré de la Peña.
On Wednesday, García Montero and Ferré de la Peña visited in Beirut the construction works of a school financed by AECID, which will accommodate 600 students from 12 to 17 years of age, in addition to ten 10 classrooms and other facilities, such as laboratories or computer room. The purpose of this prefabricated modular building is to help the Lebanese capital recover from the explosion of August 4, which completely destroyed ten educational centers and damaged 120 schools, eight universities and 20 other training centers.
García Montero’s trip to Lebanon concluded yesterday with a visit to the Miguel de Cervantes military base in Marjayoun, which is part of the United Nations International Force for Lebanon (UNIFIL) and where the military has been teaching Spanish to Lebanese citizens since 2007. To this end, the volunteer officers and NCOs receive support from the Instituto Cervantes, given that 60% of them have no previous teaching experience. Almost 600 military personnel trained by the Institute have taught Spanish and the values and customs of Spanish culture to some 6,000 Lebanese students in more than 20 Lebanese towns.
During the meeting, Brigadier General José Antonio Miragaya, head of UNIFIL’s Eastern Sector, explained to García Montero that the language program “is important, not only because it teaches Spanish, but also because it allows interaction with the local population”. “It is exciting to see the practical fruits of the collaboration with the Ministry of Defense”, said the director of Cervantes.
