The Queen presides over the annual meeting of directors of the Cervantes Institute in Tenerife.

This afternoon, Queen Letizia chaired the first working session of the annual meeting of directors of the Instituto Cervantes , which will be held until July 30 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife). The meeting will address plans and strategic guidelines for the upcoming academic year.

At the opening ceremony, held in the University of La Laguna's auditorium, the institution's director, Luis García Montero , highlighted the role of the islands, where this event is taking place for the first time, as a "fundamental bridge" in this area between Europe, Spain, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, the power of the Spanish language to build bridges and break down borders was celebrated, and its role in cultural diplomacy was analyzed.

Minutes later, Queen Letizia arrived at the main building of the University of La Laguna to preside over the first working session of this meeting. Under the title "Spanish as a Border Language," the challenges facing our language in the United States, Brazil, Senegal, and India will be analyzed, with the directors of the Cervantes University of Brasilia and New Delhi and the heads of the Global Observatory of Spanish and the Harvard Observatory.

The Queen, along with the academic and political authorities present, welcomed and greeted nearly 90 delegates from the institution around the world who are visiting the island for this event. All of them will analyze the present and future of the institution over three days through various working sessions.

In his speech on Monday, the rector of the University of La Laguna, Francisco García , praised the "immense satisfaction" of hosting this meeting, which is "a flagship in the teaching and dissemination" of the Spanish language abroad. He also wished everyone a "fruitful" session with the aim of continuing to "build bridges" around the world using what is "a powerful tool."

Former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell hailed the institution's achievements in recent years, including recovering its student and income levels after the pandemic, opening new centers in strategic locations, and embarking on a technological transition for the future, not only in its core image but also in its own systems.

"You have invented new ways to expand, and you have intensified your relationship with Latin America, establishing agreements with different universities. You have grown, rebuilt, and expanded to achieve an Institute with a more universal and practical attitude, and you must continue to do so," he noted.

Thus, he clarified that "Spanish is more than a dictionary," where you look up the meaning of a word, because "Spanish is a multitude of accents where the fundamental conversation about the future of the world takes place."

The director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero , stressed the importance of holding the Annual Meeting in the Canary Islands, a "fundamental event" for addressing these issues that "are of great interest to us," emphasizing the essential dialogue that must exist on this matter between Spain, Europe, and Latin America, as well as between Spain, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.

He emphasized the need to take advantage of this meeting to address future plans and projects, but also to reflect on words in question in the international context, focusing especially on three: freedom, cayuco, genocide, and miscegenation.

"Those of us who consider ourselves heirs to the Enlightenment, and do not want to return to superstitions, defend the formula of freedom, taking into account that it is based on respect for people and freedom of conscience," García Montero emphasized, recalling the "humiliation" that Europeans are now suffering under the "savage law of the strongest," in clear reference to the international role now played by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Spain, José Manuel Albares , who spoke remotely at the event, emphasized the power of these events to "set the course" for an institution that is "essential" to the projection of the Spanish language and its culture in the world, an issue that, he pointed out, is a "priority" for the current Spanish Government.

He highlighted the value of Spanish as a "language of diplomacy, of economic growth, which unites us with other regions" and, therefore, "is a language of the present and the future." He also recognized the role of the Cervantes Institute in projecting the country's "linguistic diversity" because, he said, "Spain cannot be understood without its co-official languages."

The opening ceremony concluded with a performance by Canarian singer and composer Pedro Guerra, who presented his latest work, "Parceiros."