The Cervantes Institute will open a centre in Los Angeles this year, the first on the west coast of the United States
The Cervantes Institute will open a centre in the city of Los Angeles this year, as approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, with the aim of promoting "Spanish and the dissemination of culture in Spanish on the west coast of the United States, where the Hispanic presence is especially significant", as stated in the royal decree that authorises it. In that city, specifically at the prestigious University of California (UCLA), President Pedro Sánchez will speak at an event on the potential of Spanish and its cultures in the United States on the 22nd.
The ceremony, which will be opened by UCLA's Chancellor, Gene Block, and the Director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, will also include a speech by the professor and Hispanist Barbara Fuchs, who has won the Cervantes "Ñ" Award - in its first edition - for her work in the international dissemination of the Spanish language.
The procedures for setting up the Instituto Cervantes centre in Los Angeles, which will be the first on the west coast of the country, will begin immediately, and it is expected to be operational in 2022.
With the status of Consulate General of Spain, the centre will report organically to the Cervantes Institute. The costs of opening, installation and operation will be covered by the Cervantes Institute, and will amount to 1,158,740 euros, according to the approved decree.
With the new centre in the Californian city, the Cervantes Institute will now have seven US cities: the centres in New York (opened in 1995), Chicago (1996) and Albuquerque (2000); the Aula Cervantes in Seattle (2007), the Observatory of the Spanish Language at Harvard University (Boston, 2013), the extension in El Paso (inaugurated by Luis García Montero on 23 June) and, shortly, the centre in Los Angeles, considered the Hispanic capital of the USA.
Also speaking at the event will be the prestigious Hispanist and UCLA professor Barbara Fuchs, author of numerous books and translations, and founder of an initiative that raises awareness of the Spanish Golden Age. Fuchs has been distinguished by the Instituto Cervantes with the 2021 "Ñ" Award, which will be presented to her by King Felipe VI at the meeting of the institution's Board of Trustees in October.
The Cervantes Institute has launched this award, as part of the 30th anniversary of its creation (in 1991) as the body responsible for the international promotion of the Spanish language and culture in Spanish, to distinguish outstanding personalities for their work in the dissemination of Spanish. The election of Barbara Fuchs was approved by the Cervantes Board of Directors on 19 May.
Submitted by José Antonio Sierra, Hispanismo Advisor
