Cervantes Institute Celebrates 30th Anniversary With Princess Leonor´s First Solo Engagement
Leonor, the Princess of Asturias and eldest daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Leticia enjoyed her first official engagement last week visiting the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute.
The Institute, which promotes Spanish language and culture across the world is celebrating it´s 30th anniversary this year.
The Princess deposited symbolic commemorative copies of the 1978 Constitution and Don Quixote in the Caja De Letras depository.
The commemorative event in Alcala also included the Deputy Prime Minister, Carmen Calvo, the Director of the Institute, Luis García Montero as well as hundreds of wellwishers who lined the street outside.
Both copies of the deposited books will be kept ‘sine die’ (no planned opening date) in safe deposit box number 2021 which has a commemorative plaque marking the anniversary.
Named after Spain´s most celebrated writer, Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the Institute has expanded globally since its launch in 1991 and now has over 40 centres around the world.
During the ceremony, the Institute´s director, Luis Garcia Montero thanked the princess for her presence and for the fact that “your first testimony alone has been to show your commitment to our mission”. He went on to say that the support that the Royal Household and the Government give to the institution is “very important because our language and our culture are an essential value, culture creates bonds of brotherhood that have diplomatic, economic and historical consequences that commit us to the future”.
He underlined that the Institute “was a great creation of democracy, a natural outcome of it”. By promoting the Spanish language and its culture, “we provide a democratic response to the hopes, needs and commitments of Spanish society”. We are proud,” he concluded, “of our culture, our work and our commitments to the future”.
