Princess Leonor's first solo act on the 30th anniversary of the Instituto Cervantes
The Princess of Asturias visited, in her first official act alone, the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute - which celebrates its 30th anniversary - where she deposited a very symbolic commemorative legacy (copies of the Constitution and Don Quixote) in the Caja de las Letras (Box of Letters Security Chamberin), listened to explanations about the digitalisation plans, toured a display of books in co-official languages and even took the floor, microphone in hand, to praise the electronic library and ask about the workers who have not been able to return to Spain due to the pandemic.
At midday Princess Leonor arrived at the centrally located Calle de Alcalá, 49, where she was received by the First Vice-President of the Government, Carmen Calvo, and the Director of the Institute, Luis García Montero. Supporters and onlookers cheered her at the gates of the headquarters where she went to take part in an event that RTVE (Canal 24 Horas) broadcast live in its entirety and which she did not hesitate to describe as a "historic day".
The tour began in the Caja de las Letras, where he left the copy of the Constitution whose first article he read on 31 October 2018 on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, and the volume of 'Don Quixote' (Cervantes Institute edition) that he read together with the Infanta Sofía on International Book Day 2020.
Both volumes were kept 'sine die' (there is no planned opening date) in safe deposit box number 2021, behind a plaque with the logo of the 30th anniversary of the institution and next to the boxes with objects belonging to the Cervantes Prize winner Miguel Delibes and the Nobel Prize winner Severo Ochoa. Before giving her the symbolic key accrediting the donation, the director explained that the almost 70 bequests in the old vault of the Cervantes headquarters "represent our commitment to culture".
Afterwards, in the assembly hall, García Montero thanked her for her presence and for the fact that "your first testimony alone has been to show your commitment to our mission". He stated 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 explained that by celebrating the anniversary "we wanted to remember the work done over the last 30 years by the entire Cervantes family". He pointed out 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".
As for the challenges facing Cervantes, it was the Secretary General, Carmen Noguero, who explained the digital transformation plan that has been accelerated to adapt to the new reality imposed by COVID-19. A digitalisation process that "will allow us to go further, cross borders and overcome the limitations of the physical world", as well as to interact with "our public" through the internet and social networks.
The so-called "Cervantes community" will have access to much more virtual content, fed in part by "the true treasure of our archives", will be able to use the "Cervantes Campus" with new educational tools, will visit a renewed website that will be presented shortly and will enjoy a powerful electronic library that already has more than 55,000 users.
The Princess of Asturias took the microphone to express her positive opinion concerning the "very useful" electronic library, which she herself has consulted in her studies. She also asked a specific question about the Cervantes workers abroad who, as a result of the pandemic, have not yet been able to return to Spain to see their relatives.
As a gift for her visit to the Cervantes headquarters, which was also attended by the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau, García Montero presented Leonor with three books in the foyer: 'Joana', by Joan Margarit, in a bilingual Spanish-Catalan edition; 'Antología poética' by García Montero himself translated into Catalan with a foreword by the 2019 Cervantes Prize winner; and 'Quisiera tener todas las voces', a book of poems in the different languages of Spain published by the Cervantes Institute under the direction of Víctor García de la Concha.
Finally, the Princess of Asturias greeted the entire management team (with some of them she stopped to chat for a few seconds) and toured a small exhibition of books from the Cervantes Institute's bibliographic collection in the co-official languages of Spain. Among the selected authors were Joanot Martorell, Ramon Llull, Ausias March, Rosalía de Castro, Àngel Guimerá, Mercè Rodoreda, Bernard Etxepare, Martí i Pol, Manuel Rivas and Bernardo Atxaga.