Pedro Sánchez visits the Cervantes Institute in Dakar

The President of the Government will visit the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute in Dakar (Senegal) tomorrow, Friday 9 April, at 17:00 Spanish time (15:00 local time), which is currently undergoing refurbishment work and will house the institution's first centre in sub-Saharan Africa. This is the first time that Pedro Sánchez has attended a Cervantes centre as President of the Government.

As part of his official trip to Angola and Senegal, Pedro Sánchez will visit the new Cervantes centre in Dakar, which will be inaugurated after the summer, hold an informal meeting with Spanish teachers and students, unveil a commemorative plaque and sign the Book of Honour as the first guest.

The President will be accompanied by the Director of the Institute, Luis García Montero, and the Director of the centre in the Senegalese capital, Néstor Nongo Nsala. Before Pedro Sánchez's arrival, García Montero will greet students, professors from the Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) and representatives of the Association of Spanish Teachers of Senegal (APES). On Saturday, she will hold a working meeting with the Spanish ambassador to Senegal, Olga Cabarga.

With the launch of the Dakar centre, which replaces the Aula Cervantes - in operation since April 2010 - the Institute strengthens its presence and capacity to promote the Spanish language and disseminate our culture in the Central African country and throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

The Cervantes Institute in Dakar occupies a two-storey building (ground and first floor) with a surface area of 686 square metres, located at 125 Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop, near UCAD.

This free-standing building, built in the 1960s, will have four classrooms, a library, a multi-purpose room for up to 50 people and several offices. Located on a plot of more than 1,500 square metres, it will also have open-air spaces for cultural, academic and leisure activities, as well as two separate entrances for the public and vehicles.

Submitted by José Antonio Sierra, Hispanismo advisor